See penny wise and pound foolish on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From the British currency (one penny being one hundredth of a pound or, prior to decimalisation, one 240th of a pound).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more penny wise and pound foolish",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most penny wise and pound foolish",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-",
"2": "more"
},
"expansion": "penny wise and pound foolish (not generally comparable, comparative more penny wise and pound foolish, superlative most penny wise and pound foolish)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
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{
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"Terms by etymology"
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"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Welsh translations",
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{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Urdu terms with redundant script codes",
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"Terms with redundant script codes",
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}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1942, Harry Elmer Barnes, Society in Transition: Problems of a Changing Age, page 122:",
"text": "In the past our government has nowhere been more penny wise and pound foolish than in connection with its expenditures for conservation.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts."
],
"id": "en-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish-en-adj--Y7u6Dpc",
"links": [
[
"Prudent",
"prudent"
],
[
"thrifty",
"thrifty"
],
[
"money",
"money"
],
[
"wasteful",
"wasteful"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "chase pennies with dollars"
},
{
"word": "false economy"
},
{
"word": "penny-wise"
},
{
"word": "pound-foolish"
},
{
"word": "take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "penny-wise and pound-foolish"
},
{
"word": "penny wise, pound foolish"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable",
"usually"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "捨本逐末"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shěběn-zhúmò",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "舍本逐末"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "pikkuasioissa tarkka mutta suurissa tuhlaavainen"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "akrivós sta pítoura kai ftinós st' alévri",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "ακριβός στα πίτουρα και φτηνός στ' αλεύρι"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "spara eyrinn en kasta krónunni"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "yasumono-gai no zeni-ushinai",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "安物買いの銭失い"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ekonómnyj v meločáx i rastočítelʹnyj v krúpnom",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "эконо́мный в мелоча́х и расточи́тельный в кру́пном"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "tko štedi čavao, izgubi potkovu"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "ahorra en el chocolate del loro"
},
{
"code": "es",
"english": "proverb",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"tags": [
"dated"
],
"word": "el dinero del avaro, dos veces va al mercado"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "el dinero del pobre dos veces se gasta"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "เสียน้อยเสียยาก เสียมากเสียง่าย"
},
{
"code": "ur",
"english": "proverb",
"lang": "Urdu",
"roman": "gānṭh kā pūrā, 'aqal kā andhā",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "گانتھ کا پورا عقل کا اندھا"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "achub y blewyn a cholli’r bwrn"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-penny wise and pound foolish.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish.ogg/En-au-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish.ogg.mp3",
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],
"word": "penny wise and pound foolish"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From the British currency (one penny being one hundredth of a pound or, prior to decimalisation, one 240th of a pound).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more penny wise and pound foolish",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most penny wise and pound foolish",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-",
"2": "more"
},
"expansion": "penny wise and pound foolish (not generally comparable, comparative more penny wise and pound foolish, superlative most penny wise and pound foolish)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"related": [
{
"word": "chase pennies with dollars"
},
{
"word": "false economy"
},
{
"word": "penny-wise"
},
{
"word": "pound-foolish"
},
{
"word": "take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with quotations",
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"Terms with Spanish translations",
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"Terms with Urdu translations",
"Terms with Welsh translations",
"Urdu terms with redundant script codes"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1942, Harry Elmer Barnes, Society in Transition: Problems of a Changing Age, page 122:",
"text": "In the past our government has nowhere been more penny wise and pound foolish than in connection with its expenditures for conservation.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts."
],
"links": [
[
"Prudent",
"prudent"
],
[
"thrifty",
"thrifty"
],
[
"money",
"money"
],
[
"wasteful",
"wasteful"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable",
"usually"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-penny wise and pound foolish.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish.ogg/En-au-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/En-au-penny_wise_and_pound_foolish.ogg"
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],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "penny-wise and pound-foolish"
},
{
"word": "penny wise, pound foolish"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "捨本逐末"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shěběn-zhúmò",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "舍本逐末"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "pikkuasioissa tarkka mutta suurissa tuhlaavainen"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "akrivós sta pítoura kai ftinós st' alévri",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "ακριβός στα πίτουρα και φτηνός στ' αλεύρι"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "spara eyrinn en kasta krónunni"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "yasumono-gai no zeni-ushinai",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "安物買いの銭失い"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ekonómnyj v meločáx i rastočítelʹnyj v krúpnom",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "эконо́мный в мелоча́х и расточи́тельный в кру́пном"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "tko štedi čavao, izgubi potkovu"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "ahorra en el chocolate del loro"
},
{
"code": "es",
"english": "proverb",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"tags": [
"dated"
],
"word": "el dinero del avaro, dos veces va al mercado"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "el dinero del pobre dos veces se gasta"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "เสียน้อยเสียยาก เสียมากเสียง่าย"
},
{
"code": "ur",
"english": "proverb",
"lang": "Urdu",
"roman": "gānṭh kā pūrā, 'aqal kā andhā",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "گانتھ کا پورا عقل کا اندھا"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "thrifty with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts",
"word": "achub y blewyn a cholli’r bwrn"
}
],
"word": "penny wise and pound foolish"
}
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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