The Potboiler



Welcome, friends, to the Potboiler

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What is the Potboiler? What isn't the Potboiler?


(noun) A book, painting, or recording produced merely to make the writer or artist a living by catering to popular taste.

(noun) A usually inferior work (as of art or literature) produced chiefly for profit.

(noun) A novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot," which means "to provide one's livelihood."

(noun) An artistic work, usually of low quality, that has been created quickly just to earn money.

(noun) If you describe a book or movie as a potboiler, you mean that it has been created in order to earn money quickly and is of poor quality.

(noun) A mediocre work of literature or art produced merely for financial gain.

(noun) A literary composition of poor quality that was written quickly to make money (to boil the pot).

(noun) 1. [mildly derogatory] A creative work of low quality (book, art, etc), produced merely to earn a living or for profit, as opposed to serious creative expression. 2. [archeology] A stone used to transfer heat from a fire into a vessel of water, so as to heat the contents.

(noun) A literary or artistic work of poor quality, produced quickly for profit.

(noun) 1. A work of art or literature produced merely “to keep the pot boiling”—that is, for the sake of providing the necessaries of life. 2. A housekeeper. Compare pot-waller, potwalloper. Halliwell.

(noun) [Cant] A term applied derisively to any literary or artistic work, and esp. a painting, done simply for money and the means of living.

(noun) Alternative spelling of pot boiler.

(noun) A book, movie, etc., that is made in usually a cheap way in order to make money rather than for artistic reasons.

(noun) A book, movie, etc. that was created only to make money.

(noun) A book or film that is produced quickly to make money and which is not of very high quality, especially one that is exciting or romantic.