Why do we say "It's not worth the paper it's written on"?

Well-Known Expressions

It's not worth the paper it's written on

Meaning:

The agreement/promise is worthless.

Background:

Apparently, back in 1861, Count Johann Bernhard of Rechberg and Rothenlöwen dismissed a document concerning the recognition of Italy as a nation state, writing words to the effect that the guarantees "are not worth the paper they are written on".

More expressions and their source

Challenge yourself with BookBrowse Wordplays

Top Picks

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
Small Rain
by Garth Greenwell

At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
The Women
by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...