Almost every language in the world has a saying that a person can never be too rich.

Americans, like people in other countries, always want more money. One way they express this is by protesting that their jobs do not pay enough.

A common expression is, "I am working for chickenfeed." It means working for very little money.

The expression probably began because seeds fed to chickens made people think of small change.

Small change means metal coins of not much value, like nickels which are worth five cents.

An early use of the word chickenfeed appeared in an American publication in nineteen thirty.

It told about a rich man and his son. Word expert Mitford Mathews says it read,

"I'll bet neither the kid nor his father ever saw a nickel or a dime. They would not have been interested in such chickenfeed."

Chickenfeed also has another interesting meaning known to history experts and World War Two spies and soldiers.

Spy expert Henry S. A. Becket writes that some German spies working in London during the war also worked for the British.