In Russian, many words change their meaning, acquire phraseological features, and are used in a figurative sense. For example, pennies - what is it, a type of money, or is it still a designation of something else? Understanding this issue is not so difficult.
Penny is money
The original meaning of the word is a thing of the past. First of all, it is, of course, money. A penny is a copper or, more rarely, a silver small change that was used in many countries of Europe during the late Middle Ages. Since then, they, as a monetary unit, have been preserved only in Poland. Linguists believe that the word “groshy” (groshі, pennies), used in Ukrainian and Belarusian, which means money in general, migrated to them precisely from the Polish language.
In Russia, this is how they called a small copper coin worth two kopecks, and then half a kopeck, the so-called half. At one time they even minted a small coin called "grosh", at the end of the reign of Peter I.
Phraseological meaning
At the moment in Russian this word is used only in a figurative sense. In most cases, this is a designation of cheapness withoutspecific references. If a thing is said to be worth a pittance, then it is a very small price.
Often, this concept is used in a disparaging sense, especially when it comes to material gain received for something. For example: “what kind of salary is there - pennies” or “is it money - pennies” and even “the abyss for a copper penny”, “it’s not worth a penny.”
Approximately in the same sense the word "penny" is used. But if the kopeck is still a monetary unit that circulates on the territory of Russia, then pennies were minted during the time of Peter I.
Relevance of use in speech
Given that, in a figurative sense, a pittance is a negligible price, one should be careful about the use of this word. It is quite acceptable in colloquial speech, in fiction to give the story figurativeness and special semantic content. In journalistic articles, this word is used to create an appropriate emotional response from readers. For example, if an article says that pennies are allocated for he alth care, this will cause a more pronounced resonance than if a specific amount is mentioned.
In business and official correspondence, the use of the word "pennies" is unacceptable, it is too emotional and can lead to ambiguous understanding of the text. It is better to use more neutral-sounding words and phrases.
