"Not worth a brass farthing" nghĩa là gì?

con gái muốn chơi gì là tùy, các nhà làm luật không nghĩa lý gì ở đây... Photo courtesy Brian Evans.

'Not worth a brass farthing' có farthing là đồng pha-đin = 1/4 penny -> cụm từ này nghĩa là chẳng đáng một xu (completely worthless or useless; having little or no value).

Ví dụ
Would playing football have kept all that from happening? Probably not, but how the hell do I know? I do know I didn’t want to find out. My advice may not be worth a brass farthing, but parents should make the decision on their own. If legislators don’t want their children playing football, don’t allow it. Just don’t tell us what to do with ours.

With a few honourable exceptions, virtually the entire political class has been plotting to either overturn the Leave vote, or water it down so significantly that it becomes meaningless. Neither of the main parties’ manifesto commitments, to implement properly the wishes of the 17.4 million people who voted to take back control of our laws, trade deals and borders, was worth a brass farthing.

Still, it’s interesting to observe Makal using the whole of the final chapter to admit his appreciation of “primitive” Anatolian folk songs: “How deeply they touch one, though it may be that they are not worth a brass farthing to our bright modern musicians.” It’s a revelation of sorts. After 190 pages of railing against the ignorance and backwardness of village life, Makal is finally able to resign himself: “Perhaps what makes me weep is the very fact that the world is not worth joy or grief, and yet one cannot help but weep for it.”

Phạm Hạnh

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