To care about trivial things and be careless about important things, saving small amount of money and be extravagant about large sum of money
Etymology:
- This was a famous phrase of 17th century in England. Pound represents currency of money in England. Off course the penny was not of the same value like pound, hence the expression meant that it is insane to be careful or be smart enough for small things and be careless and negligent about important and crucial things in life. It is indeed silly to save small amount and waste larger amounts.
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Submitted on February 25, 2019
Translation
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Penny - weise und Pfund - dumm
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Penny – Wise and Pound – Foolish
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"Penny – Wise and Pound – Foolish." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 3 Jun 2023. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/penny--wise-and-pound--foolish_44932>.
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