It just bothers me...

Today I received a mailing from the US Mint with a special offer for a 2017 Mint Set.

I don't want to start to rag on the Mint because that's not productive, but it really really gets me when the Mint refers to the Lincoln Cent as a "penny", but now they've gone that extra step that the stewards of our coinage just shouldn't go.





Is this bothering anyone else as much as me? Or is it only because I'm old and generally crotchety?

 

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I noticed that to, I just figure they are just like most people that don't collect coins.

 

I'm not bother by it as most people refer to it as that anyway.

 

What's wrong with calling it a penny?

 

It bothers me a *tiny* bit. It doesn't get me too stirred up, especially since most everyone uses "penny" (myself included) in casual talk, but I do wish they would at least put "cent" somewhere since it is an official US Mint product.

It reminds me of writing prompt for an Advanced Placement practice exam I had a few years ago. The prompt was about whether or not the mint should continue to produce pennies, and nowhere in the prompt did they mention the word "cent." Once again, I wasn't bothered by it, but I thought it was a bit odd since the College Board (the company that conducts Advanced Placement exams and the SAT) is VERY anal about semantics and word choice used in their exam questions.

 

A cent is called a penny far more than a penny is called a cent.

 

Penny, with us, has become colloquial. The word itself has become ingrained in peoples minds, and the proper reference to it (cent) has been lost to the general population. We can continue to educate the masses, but I think it's just like shoveling manure against the tide.........

 

I get way more annoyed the way people have destroyed the word "literally" in recent years

 

I think they should label their products correctly.

 

I just feel like in the evolution of the language, cent has grown to address the abstract concept of 1/100 of a dollar, and penny has taken over as the term for the coin that is worth that amount. But thats just my two pennies worth

 

The bastardization of a language doesn't happen overnight. It happens in bits and fits and spurts.

The problem with calling it a penny is simple. It's not a penny, and it never was. A penny is an English copper piece, and that is where the colloquial term originates.

Yet we are 225 years into creating our own coin, the one that says "One Cent" on it, and not only has the American people co-opted the other term, but apparently so has the company that manufactures it.

 

I would have to agree. Nowadays people use "literally" in a way that is the exact opposite of its definition.

 

And/or in situations where it should be obvious and is completely unnecessary.

 

literally, dude...

 

You can tell by my screen name where I am on this issue. LOL I have offered to convert to calling the coin in question a cent "forever more" as soon as everyone stops calling the US five cent piece a "nickel".

Never understood the righteous indignation of the cent lobby. The coin is called a penny, it's value is one cent and the nickel has a value of five cents.

 

It bothers me.
a bit more than a tiny bit.

 

It would cost a pretty penny.
A penny for your thoughts.
Penny Whimsy.
Penny Boards.
Penny machines.
Penny slots.
Penny ante.
Penny Lady
You guys help me keep going.

 

Penny wise (pound foolish)
Pennywise (the dancing clown)

 

A penny for your thoughts?

 

Penny pincher
Lucky penny
Wishing-well penny