A Word A Day —king’s ransom

This week’s theme: Words related to royalty.

king’s ransom (kingz RAN-suhm) noun

   A very large sum of money.

[From the reference to the large sum required to secure the release of a king from captivity.]

Today’s word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=king’s+ransom

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  “Its nickname, CrackBerry, says it all. [A study] found that a third of BlackBerry users show signs of addiction ‘similar to alcoholics’.
   Many companies would give a king’s ransom for such customer dependency.”
   Are You Addicted To Your BlackBerry?; Forbes (New York); Apr 3, 2008.

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Profits, like sausages… are esteemed most by those who know least about what goes into them. -Alvin Toffler, futurist and author (b. 1928)

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Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/kings_ransom.mp3

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/kings_ransom.html