"bean counter" meaning in English

See bean counter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-bean counter.ogg Forms: bean counters [plural]
Etymology: Probably from German Erbsenzähler (literally “pea counter”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|de|Erbsenzähler|lit=pea counter}} German Erbsenzähler (literally “pea counter”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} bean counter (plural bean counters)
  1. (idiomatic, mildly derogatory) A person who is excessively interested in controlling or reducing expenses, increasing profits, or in quantitative details in general. Tags: derogatory, idiomatic, mildly Categories (topical): People Synonyms: bean-counter, beancounter Related terms: beancount Translations (person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details): penninpyörittäjä (Finnish), Erbsenzähler [masculine] (German), Erbsenzählerin [feminine] (German), ciferšpión [masculine] (Slovak)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1985 August 2, “Editorial: Sniffing at DOC health costs”, in Gainsville Sun, retrieved 2009-09-13, page 14A:",
          "text": "As any good bean counter will tell you, it costs money to treat people at a hospital.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 December 23, Robert Chew, “Who Is Bernie Madoff? Many Investors Didn't Ask”, in Time, retrieved 2009-09-13:",
          "text": "And, in our case, the accounting firm of Halpern & Mantovani, CPA, in Encino, Calif., Chais' chief bean counter, pumped out the quarterly statements as if it were all rock solid.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "A person who is excessively interested in controlling or reducing expenses, increasing profits, or in quantitative details in general."
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        "(idiomatic, mildly derogatory) A person who is excessively interested in controlling or reducing expenses, increasing profits, or in quantitative details in general."
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          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
          "word": "penninpyörittäjä"
        },
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          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
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          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "code": "sk",
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          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
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        }
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          "ref": "1985 August 2, “Editorial: Sniffing at DOC health costs”, in Gainsville Sun, retrieved 2009-09-13, page 14A:",
          "text": "As any good bean counter will tell you, it costs money to treat people at a hospital.",
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          "ref": "2008 December 23, Robert Chew, “Who Is Bernie Madoff? Many Investors Didn't Ask”, in Time, retrieved 2009-09-13:",
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      ],
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        "derogatory",
        "idiomatic",
        "mildly"
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      "word": "bean-counter"
    },
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      "word": "beancounter"
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  "translations": [
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      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
      "word": "penninpyörittäjä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Erbsenzähler"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Erbsenzählerin"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "person excessively interested in expenses and quantitative details",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ciferšpión"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bean counter"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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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