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Has anyone heard of an expression, from the Renaissance or older, containing the word "tuppence" which describes a student of the law or someone without a great deal of experience or training in it?

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I think this is "too localised" – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '11 at 17:43
Actually, it's not localized. The reference to law student is a red herring. – Kris Apr 26 '12 at 20:17

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

Do you perhaps mean "tuppeny ha'penny"? It's a general term for something cheap and shoddy.

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There's also the much rarer don't know tuppence, which one can imagine might be said of an inexperienced lawyer. – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '11 at 17:42
Ah, I haven't heard that for a while or "not worth tuppence". – Wudang Dec 14 '11 at 17:54
Thanks for clearing up some Elvis Costello imagery for me! – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Apr 26 '12 at 19:57
up vote 0 down vote

Tuppence is a contraction of sorts for two pence, that is, not a lot or practically nothing.

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-1 This doesn't give an expression describing a law student (unless you're saying that tuppence is the expression). – zpletan Apr 26 '12 at 20:03
@zpletan Is there a reason this should or should not be applied to law students alone? – Kris Apr 26 '12 at 20:10
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@Kris unless the expression (about anybody, law student or not) runs similar to he is tuppence, this does not answer the question. Perhaps I downvoted too hastily; is tuppence (or tuppenny) the British equivalent of two-bit? – zpletan Apr 26 '12 at 20:23
At least you didn't google it first. :-) Maybe you still haven't. – Kris Apr 26 '12 at 20:32
@Kris, I didn't find much, so I'm guessing that it's not equivalent to two-bit. If you or Brad (or anybody) edits in an example usage of tuppence as an expression, I'll reverse my downvote. – zpletan Apr 26 '12 at 21:31

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