cheap at half the price

== English == === Etymology === Deliberate transformation of a street trader's cry, cheap at twice the price (informing customers that what he was selling would still be cheap even if it cost twice as much), into cheap at half the price which would imply that the price was excessive. === Pronunciation === === Phrase === cheap at half the price (humorous) Quite expensive. (from misunderstanding) Satisfactorily cheap. === References === Michael Quinion (2004), “Cheap at half the price”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.