Cheap at half the price?

[Rouchent]

Should we not be saying....

Cheap at TWICE the price!

Can anyone explain why this one appears to backwards?

[bibblebub]

If you add an extra bit to the end viz. "cheap if it were half the price and I was still paying this amount" then it makes more sense. Don't know if that was ever used.

[brionon]

It is just a nonsense saying, British Humour. Of course it could mean that the object is Too dear ?

[Garmard]

Well, something is cheaper if it is half the price?

[jno]

it should be. I think people just get a bit muddled with their arithmetic, for which Gordon Brown is obviously to blame.

[annie0000]

The original saying was Cheap at twice the price, but given the UK sarcasm, cheap at half the price was used to convey how poor value something was.

[jake-the-peg]

selling cheap at half the price [it should be]

[Quizmonster]

‘Cheap at half the price' would make more sense if it were ‘cheap at twice the price', as suggested, and some people believe that was, indeed, the original form. It probably came from the cries of market-traders/street-sellers, such as Del-Boy Trotter, shouting their wares. They might have cried:"This is worth £8.00 but I'm not asking for £8.00...all I'm asking for today is £4.00...come on, ladies and gentlemen...it'd be cheap at twice the price!"
For a more detailed examination of the phrase by an expert etymologist, click http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-che1.html.

[Quizmonster]

Sorry that link failed. Try this one http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-che1.htm