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Put paid toMeaningTo deal with effectively; to finish something off. Origin'Put paid to' probably derives from the practice of book-keepers of writing or stamping "Paid" on bills when the paperwork for a sale was completed. The term isn't especially old and I can't find any examples of it in print prior to the 20th century. An early citation comes from the Winnipeg newspaper The Manitoba Morning Free Press, October 1905. This appeared in a listing of English football results, which were presumably printed in a Canadian paper for the benefit of the many English immigrants:
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