turn up like a bad penny

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turn up like a bad penny

To appear or return regularly, especially of a person or thing that is unwelcome or objectionable. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of your conniving cousin—he always manages to turn up like a bad penny.

See also: bad, like, penny, turn, up

turn up like a bad penny

BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONED

If someone or something turns up like a bad penny, they appear again when they are not welcome or wanted. Her husband was able to find her, to turn up again on her doorstep like a bad penny. Like a bad penny, the report has turned up again. Note: You often use this expression to indicate that the person or thing keeps appearing.

See also: bad, like, penny, turn, up

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

turn up like a bad penny

(of someone or something unwelcome) inevitably reappear or return.

A bad penny is a counterfeit coin which circulates rapidly as people try to pass it on to someone else.

See also: bad, like, penny, turn, up

turn up like a bad ˈpenny

(informal) appear when you are not welcome or not wanted, especially when this happens regularly: He turns up like a bad penny every time there’s a chance of a free meal or a drink.

See also: bad, like, penny, turn, up

bad penny, always turns up (comes back) like a

The unwanted or worthless object or person is sure to return. A proverb in several languages besides English, this expression dates from the days when coins had intrinsic worth and a bad penny (or shilling or crown) was one that was made of inferior metal or contained less metal than it should.