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Nice as Ninepence

A corruption of “Nice as nine-pins.” In the game of nine-pins, “men” are set in three rows with the utmost exactitude or nicety. Nine-pence is an Irish shilling of 1561. (See Ninepence.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Ninepence