Smithfield bargain

English

Noun

Smithfield bargain (plural Smithfield bargains)

1. (obsolete) A bargain in which the buyer of something is taken advantage of; a rip-off. [17th–19th c.]
2. (obsolete) A marriage made for convenience, especially for financial reasons. [17th–19th c.]
   • 1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 84:

     VVhy, is it not provoking; vvhen I thought vve vvere coming to the prettieſt diſtreſs imaginable, to find myſelf made a mere Smithfield bargain of at laſt— […]