Words and Their Stories: Money, Part 1
Vocabulary and Idioms:
1. make/lose/spend money hand over fist /meɪk / luːz / spend ˈmʌniː hænd ˈoʊvər fɪst/ (idm.): to make/lose/spend money very fast and in large quantities
- My cousin has been making money hand over fist with her business.
- In fact, hewas getting rich, hand over fist, and was vastly respected. (A Connecticut Yankee by Twain, Mark)
- We wanted to take him ashore at once, but Henry was game; he said he'd be jiggered if he'd leave a school like that for anything short of lockjaw; then he kept fishing away, hauling in hand over fist and groaning between times. (Anne's House of Dreams by Montgomery, Lucy Maud)
- She acted like she’d just won the lottery. [=won a lottery run by a government]
3. windfall /ˈwɪndfɔːl/ (n): an amount of money that sb/sth wins or receives unexpectedly
- She had an unexpected windfall when a cousin died.
4. born with a silver spoon in your mouth /bɔːrn wɪð ə ˈsɪlvər spuːn ɪn jʊr ˈmaʊθ/ (saying): having rich parents
- She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and everything has been done for her.
5. hard up /ˌhɑːrd ˈʌp/ (adj): (informal) having very little money, especially for a short period of time
- After he lost his job he was so hard up he couldn’t afford the price of a beer.
- They’re not really as hard up as they say they are.
- We’re pretty hard up these days.
6. chicken feed /ˈtʃɪkɪn fiːd/ (n): an amount of money that is too small to be satisfactory
- We’re going to make so much money that five thousand will look like chicken feed.
- The project cost almost a million dollars, which isn’t exactly chicken feed.
- Ten bucks? That’s chicken feed!
7. handout /ˈhændaʊt/ (n): a gift of money, clothing, or food, which is given free to poor people.
- He sat on the sidewalk asking for a handout.
- My parents refused to take handouts from the government.
- Each family is being given a cash handout of six thousand rupees.
- I’m not interested in government handouts – all I want is a job.
8. deadbeat /ˈdedbi:t/ (n): (NAmE) a person or company that tries to avoid paying their debts
- He was accused of being a deadbeat.
9. pinch pennies /pɪntʃ ˈpeniːz/ (UK also pinch and scrape /pɪnʧ ənd skreɪp/) (idm.): (informal) to try to spend as little money as possible
- He pinched pennies to live on his small paycheck.
- When we were first married we had to pinch pennies just to get by.
10. cheapskate /ˈtʃiːpskeɪt/ = skinflint /ˈskɪnflɪnt/ = miser /ˈmaɪzər/ (n): (informal, disapproving) a person who does not like to spend money
- We really need a new heater, but the landlord’s such a cheapskate we’ll never get it.
- Tell your husband not to be a cheapskate.
- My dad’s such a cheapskate that he’s put a lock on the telephone.
11. flat broke /flæt broʊk/ (BrE also stony broke /ˈstoʊniː broʊk/) (also flat busted /flæt ˈbʌstɪd/) (idm.): (informal) have no money at all.
- Sorry, I’m flat broke. Not a cent on me.
- You may be flat broke, but you will find a way to pay your electricity bill or you will live in the dark.
- Mary was flat busted, and it was two more weeks before she was due to get paid.
- “I may be broke, but at least I’m not flat busted.”
12. scrape sth together/up /skreɪp ˈsʌmθɪŋ tʊˈgeðər / ʌp/(phr.v.): to manage with great difficulty to collect enough of something, especially money, or to find the things or people that you need
- We managed to scrape together eight volunteers.
- They have trouble even scraping together their rent.
- I finally scraped together enough money for a flight home.
- Do you think we can scrape up a team for the match on Saturday?
13. strike it rich /straɪk ɪt rɪʧ/ (idm.): to get a lot of money, especially suddenly and unexpectedly
- His father struck it rich in the diamond business.
- They’re hoping to strike it rich in Las Vegas.
14. hit the jackpot /hɪt ðə ʤækˌpɑːt/ (idm.): to suddenly get or win a lot of money
- When old Mr. and Mrs. Smith won the lottery, they hit the jackpot.
- When Celine found her new job in Las Vegas, she thought that she had hit the jackpot.
- The town of West Point, Georgia hit the jackpot when KIA opened its manufacturing plant there.
15. splurge ~ (sth) (on sth) /splɜːrʤ/(informal) = splash out (on sth) | splash sth out (on/for sth) /splæʃ/ (BrE, informal) (phr.v.): to spend a lot of money on sth that you do not really need
- He splurged his whole week’s wages on a champagne dinner.
- She splurged out more than she could afford on loads of new clothes.
16. have money to burn /həv ˈmʌniː tuː bɜːrn/ (idm.): (informal) money to spend on expensive things, especially things that other people think are unnecessary or silly :
- I don’t know what her job is but she certainly seems to have money to burn.
- People who buy these cars usually have money to burn.
- He was a high-earning broker with money to burn.
17. be burning a hole in your pocket /biː ˈbɜːrnɪŋ ə hoʊl ɪn jʊr ˈpɑːkɪt/ (idm.): if money is burning a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it immediately
- I just got paid today and this money is burning a hole in my pocket.
- Let’s go out and have some fun, I’ve got some money that is burning a hole in my pocket.
- I had a fifty dollar bill that was burning a hole in my pocket, so I figured I’d go out and have a really good time.
- The money had been burning a hole in his pocket when he decided to go to the casino.
18. foot the bill (for something) /fʊt ðə bɪl fər ˈsʌmθɪŋ/ (idm.): (informal) to be responsible for paying the cost of sth
- Once again it will be the taxpayer who has to foot the bill.
- Who will be footing the bill for the party?
- My sister is footing the bill for her daughter’s education so she is making sure that she studies hard.
- Many fear the taxpayer could end up footing a massive bill.
- Our insurance company should foot the bill for the damage.
19. pick up the bill/tab (for something) /pɪk ʌp ðə bɪl / tæb fər ˈsʌmθɪŋ/ (US also pick up the check /pɪk ʌp ðə ʧek/) (idm.): (informal) to pay for something that someone else has done/eaten etc.
- The company picked up the tab for his hotel room.
- The government will continue to pick up college fees for some students.
20. feel/look like a million bucks/dollars /fiːl / lʊk laɪk ə ˈmɪljən bʌks / ˈdɑːlərz/ (idm.): (informal) to look very attractive or feel very happy and healthy
- I felt like a million bucks in that tux.
- “You look a million dollars in that dress, honey!”
- an elegant suit that makes her look like a million dollars
21. down and out /ˌdaʊn ænd ˈaʊt/ (adj): (of a person) very poor, with nowhere to live and no job
a novel about being down and out in London
- Nobody loves you when you’re down and out.
22. strapped (for cash, funds, etc.) /stræpt fər kæʃ , fʌndz/ (adj.): (informal) having little or not enough money
- I’m strapped for cash (= have no money) at the moment – can I pay you later?
23. bottom dollar /ˈbɑːtəm ˈdɑːlər/ (idm.): your last dollar
- He spent his bottom dollar on some new clothes to wear for his job interview.
24. nest egg /ˈnest eg/ (n): (informal) a sum of money that you save to use in the future
- Over the years she had built up a nice little nest egg for her retirement.
- Regular investment of small amounts of money is an excellent way of building a nest egg.
- They have a little nest egg tucked away somewhere for a rainy day.
- I made a nice nest egg when I was working and I am now able to go to school.
25. on a shoestring /ɑːn ə ʃuːˌstrɪŋ/ (idm.): (informal) using or having a very small amount of money, on a very low budget
- He started his business on a shoestring but now it is very successful.
- Our schools are still running on a shoestring.
26. be penny wise and pound foolish /biː ˈpeniːwaɪz ænd paʊndˈfuːlɪʃ/ (idm.): (old-fashioned) to be extremely careful about small amounts of money and not careful enough about larger amounts of money
- My friend is penny wise and pound foolish and economizes on small things but wastes all of his money on big things.
- FROM:Learning English - Swan Song
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου