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“money”

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11 matches

1. A fool and his money are soon parted

   Meaning An imprudent person quickly loses money through bad judgement or exploitation. Usually judgemental and sometimes victim-blaming. Modern singular they can avoid the gendered his, though the traditional form…

   Also known as A fool and his money are easily parted · A fool and his money is soon parted · A fool and their money are soon parted

2. For love or money

   Meaning Under any circumstances or by any inducement, most often used after a negative. Usually appears in a negative clause. Outside that construction it may literally ask whether affection or payment is the motive…

   Also known as For love nor money · Not for love nor money · Not for love or money

3. The root of all evil

   Meaning … serious wrongdoing, corruption, or broader trouble grows. The biblical subject is covetousness or love of money, not money by itself. Regional use: Late Middle English biblical translation; now widespread…

   Also known as The love of money is the root of all evil

4. Where there's muck there's brass

   Meaning Dirty, unpleasant or unglamorous work can produce worthwhile profit or prosperity. Informal and often approving of practical enterprise, though it can also criticize profit made from pollution or squalor…

   Also known as Where there's muck there's luck · Where there's muck there's money

5. Stag and doe

   Meaning A ticketed party held to raise money for an engaged couple's wedding. Current regional social-custom term Regional use: Canada, predominantly Ontario and especially rural communities.

   Also known as buck and doe · Jack and Jill · stag and doe party · stag-and-doe

6. Jump on the gravy train

   Meaning Join or exploit a situation that offers easy money, benefits or advancement, often with a suggestion of opportunism or unfair advantage.

   Also known as Get on the gravy train · Gravy train · Ride the gravy train

7. Fine words butter no parsnips

   Meaning Polite promises and flattering talk achieve nothing without practical action. Often used to demand evidence, money or action after reassuring talk. Regional use: British English.

   Also known as Fair words butter no parsnips · Fine words butter no fish · Soft words butter no parsnips

8. In for a penny, in for a pound

   Meaning … commitment needed to finish it. Often spoken at the moment a small undertaking becomes a larger one. It need not involve money. Regional use: United Kingdom and wider Commonwealth; widely understood elsewhere…

   Also known as If in for a penny, in for a pound · Once in for a penny, in for a pound

9. Laughing all the way to the bank

   Meaning Making money easily or unexpectedly, reveling in profit with smug glee.

10. The world is your oyster

    Origin … with sword will open'. In context Pistol has been refused money and imagines forcibly extracting wealth; it is not a gentle promise that a pearl will simply appear. Later usage softened and generalised the…

    Also known as The world is my oyster · The world is someone's oyster · The world's mine oyster

11. Penny wise and pound foolish

    Origin … false-economy example in his 1607 Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. Penny and pound contrast small and large sums, but the warning readily extends beyond money to misplaced attention and short-sighted economy…

    Also known as Pennie wise and pound foolish · Penny wise, pound foolish