be just before you're generous
Fulfill your duties before engaging in fun activities. This phrase is often used to refer to financial matters. Put some of your paycheck in savings right away—be just before you're generous. You need to clean your room before you go out with your friends. Be just before you're generous. Did you finish your book report? Go on, be just before you’re generous—you can play video games later.
generous to a fault
Prone to generosity, perhaps excessively so. Of course you gave Sean money again—you're generous to a fault. My mom is generous to a fault, so she's an easy target for scammers like Rich. Mr. Roberts may be a millionaire, but he's certainly not generous to a fault. He doesn't even donate to charitable causes!
to a fault
To an extreme to excessive degree; more than is usual or necessary. Jim is polite to a fault—it can actually be a little bit irritating sometimes. The police sergeant is honest to a fault, following every regulation and guideline without question.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Be just before you're generous.
Prov. Do what you ought to do before you do things that you want to do; pay your debts before you give money away. Jill: It's payday! I can't wait to go out and buy my niece that nice toy train set for her birthday. Jane: But, Jill, we have bills to pay. Be just before you're generous.
generous to a fault
Cliché too generous; overly generous. My favorite uncle is generous to a fault. Sally—always generous to a fault—gave away her lunch to a homeless man.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
to a fault
Excessively, extremely, as in He was generous to a fault. This phrase, always qualifying an adjective, has been so used since the mid-1700s. Indeed, Oliver Goldsmith had this precise usage in The Life of Richard Nash (1762).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
to a fault
COMMON If someone has a good quality to a fault, they have more of this quality than is usual or necessary. She was generous to a fault and tried to see that we had everything we needed. He's honest to a fault, brave, dedicated, and fiercely proud of the New York Police Department.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
— to a fault
(of someone or something displaying a particular commendable quality) to an extent verging on excess. 1995 Bill Bryson Notes from a Small Island Anyway, that's the kind of place Bournemouth is—genteel to a fault and proud of it.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
to a ˈfault
(written) used to say that somebody has a lot, or even too much of a particular good quality: He was generous to a fault.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
to a fault
To an excessive degree: generous to a fault.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
to a fault
Excessively so. This locution, which is always applied to a quality that is inherently good but may not be so in excess—for example, “generous to a fault”—dates from the nineteenth century. The
fault in question, of course, is that of excess. Robert Browning used it in
The Ring and the Book (1868), “Faultless to a fault”—that is, too perfect. A similar phrase is
to a fare-the-well, but it implies perfection and not necessarily excess. For example, “The table was decorated to a fare-the-well; nothing was lacking.” See also
too much of a good thing.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer