As an adjective: designed to deceive or attract people into spending money on something worthless; as a noun: a cheap, worthless article sold through deception.
From 'catch' + 'penny,' originating in 17th-century British slang. Originally described street vendors' tactics for extracting coins from passersby with dubious merchandise.
Charles Dickens and Victorian writers used 'catchpenny' to describe the sensationalist penny dreadfuls and fake novelties of their era—precursors to modern Instagram ads promising miracle products. It's a term that's been needed for 400 years because human nature keeps falling for the same tricks.
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