Penny wise pound foolish là gì năm 2024

The English idiom ‘Penny Wise And Pound Foolish’ meaning is to someone who is excessively concerned with saving and gaining small amounts of money in the beginning but failing to save a considerable amount for the long-term consequences.

Penny means a small unit of currency or money in Britain and a Pound means a larger unit. The origin of this phrase is related to an old proverb, where a penny and a pound are compared. Pennywise means being careful and spending money wisely, saving every small amount possible. Whereas, pound foolish refers to someone spending too much money unwisely resulting in financial losses in the long run.

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The idiom penny wise and pound foolish is often used to criticize or bash an individual or organisation that is focusing on immediate cost saving and not worrying or thinking about the negative effects it will have in the long run. This idiom suggests that one focusing only on immediate or minor savings will eventually face financial setbacks and may miss out on future opportunities.

Below we have listed some examples of penny-wise and pound-foolish, where you will get an idea about how to use them appropriately.

  • ‘My sister’s priority of immediate cost savings during the house renovation turned out to be a penny wise and pound foolish.’
  • ‘Ram bought a cheap cell phone from a local store which stopped working after two days. His decision to save money turned out to be penny wise and pound foolish.’
  • ‘Netizens are investing a lot in cryptocurrency which is now facing a downfall and is leading to a penny wise and pound foolish.’

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Synonyms and Similar Words to Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

The idiom ‘Penny wise and Pound Foolish’ has a lot of similar words and synonyms which can be used in different situations. Here’s a list of some of the most common similar words to the idiom penny wise and pound foolish.

  • Cost-effective
  • Money saving
  • Closefisted
  • Work-saving
  • Parsimonious

Also read – In For a Penny In For a Pound Meaning, Examples, Synonyms and Quiz

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish Meaning Quiz

Their penny-wise and pound-foolish strategy resulted in financial loss to the company and:

  1. They decided to cut costs by reducing its research and development budget.
  2. They have increased the salary of every employee.
  3. Not every employee is paid equally.

Ans – They decided to cut costs by reducing its research and development budget.

This was all about the idiom penny wise and pound foolish meaning and examples. Hope you understood the concept where it’s used. For more such blogs, follow Leverage Edu.

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"Penny-wise and pound-foolish" -> nghĩa là quan tâm đến những thứ nhỏ nhặt hay lợi ích trước mắt mà bỏ quên giá trị to lớn phía sau; "tham bát bỏ mâm".

Ví dụ

The government might not have collected much LTCG taxes. A pro-investment (hình thức đầu tư) government should roll back (thu hồi) any tax which is 'penny-wise’ and ‘pound-foolish'.

Sure, in addition to having a crappy name (tên dở), mental illness is cheaper to ignore in the short run, but government disinvestment (ngừng đầu tư) in this area is penny-wise and pound foolish.

When the Ogdensburg City Council (Hội đồng thành phố) recently voted not to support the Fort de la Présentation Association in its quest (điều tra) to get grant funding (nhận tài trợ) to purchase the property that used to be the fort (đồn, pháo đài), it was penny wise, pound foolish.

Don’t let your client be pennywise and pound foolish. Instead of paying a lump sum up front (thanh toán một lần), a fixed-term licensing deal (thỏa thuận cấp phép có thời hạn) lets your client pay the settlement over time while continuing to generate revenue (tạo doanh thu) from the accused (cáo buộc) product.

From the British currency (one penny being one hundredth of a pound or, prior to decimalisation, one 240th of a pound).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

(not generally , more penny wise and pound foolish, most penny wise and pound foolish)

() Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts.

1942, Harry Elmer Barnes, Society in Transition: Problems of a Changing Age, page 122:

In the past our government has nowhere been more penny wise and pound foolish than in connection with its expenditures for conservation.