penny wise and pound foolish
Meaning: Careful with small amounts of money but wasteful with large ones.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Skipping the car's oil change to save money is penny wise and pound foolish.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: British money: a penny is tiny, a pound large. The saying is recorded in the early 17th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Des économies de bouts de chandelle — literally: Candle-end savings
More idioms — Daily Life
- meet someone halfway — To make a compromise with someone.
- wear sackcloth and ashes — To show public regret or repentance.
- sit on the fence — To avoid taking sides.
- take an ax to — To cut something drastically, especially spending or jobs.
- in the crosshairs — Targeted for attack, criticism or scrutiny.
- raise a hue and cry — To make a loud public protest.
More English idioms
- have a free hand — To have freedom to act as one sees fit.
- take a load off someone's mind — To relieve someone of a worry.
- a bottomless pit — Something that uses up endless money or effort; also a person who is always hungry.
- in the middle of nowhere — In a very remote place, far from towns.
- out of thin air — Appearing from nowhere, as if by magic.
- be at a low ebb — To be in a poor or weak state.
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