good value

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good value (plural good values)

1. (dated) Something that is well worth the money paid for it.
   • 1910, Iowa Department of Agriculture, The Iowa Year Book of Agriculture‎, volume 10, page 475:

     It is no matter how high-priced a sheep is, just so he is a good value.

   • 1960, The Illustrated London News, Volume 237, Issue 1, page 202,

     Moreover, today we meet Bridie in theatre far too seldom : he is a better value, and more likely to live in record, than the modish mayflies of our stage.

   • 1973, The Autocar, Volume 138, page 11,

     She is a good value at £594 in standard form, but a suitable 40 hp engine and a trailer would raise the total price to well over £1000 (Microplas Ltd., Homewood Road, Mitcham, Surrey).

   • 1983, The Month, Issues 1384-1395, page 66,

     Audiences fill theatres where his work is staged. He is a good value. He never fails, which is not to say he always succeeds.

2. (Britain, Australia, idiomatic, slang) Someone who is friendly and easy-going.
   • 2007, Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land‎, page 95:

     He is a good value—earnest, sympathetic, solid to the bone and not overcomplicated—just the way you′d hope your undertaker would be.

3. (Britain, Australia, idiomatic, slang) Someone who is funny or witty.
   • 2003 David Philip Reiter, Interactive Publications, Liars and Lovers, page 79,

     ‘Not anymore,’ she said, quickly ‘But he′s worth his weight in gold at a party. He always has something to say, and most of the time it′s interesting. That reflects well on me for inviting him.’

     ‘He is a good value.’

   • 2010, Gyles Brandreth, Something Sensational to Read in the Train: The Diary of a Lifetime, unnumbered page,

     Friday, 17 July 1981

     Yesterday: morning with Germaine Greer – she is a good value, stimulating company and completely ridiculous: for the original feminist she is hilariously man-mad.