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Today's Word "potboiler"

A usually inferior literary or artistic work on

Published in Vocabulary

potboiler \POT-boi-lur\ (noun) - A usually inferior literary or artistic work, produced quickly for the purpose of making money.

"The play was a mixed blessing. Through it O'Neill latched on to a perennial source of income, but the promise of his youth was essentially squandered on a potboiler." -- Jane Scovell, 'Oona. Living in the Shadows'

 

Potboiler comes from the phrase "boil the pot," meaning "to provide one's livelihood."


 

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