penny-wise and pound-foolish

So concerned with saving money in any way possible that one fails to allocate money to things that will ultimately force one to spend more (due to lack of quality, proper maintenance, etc.). I know you don't want to pay for this expensive course of treatment, but when ignoring your health lands you in the hospital and you have to miss work, you'll see that you were penny-wise and pound-foolish.

penny wise and pound foolish

Stingy about small expenditures and extravagant with large ones, as in Dean clips all the coupons for supermarket bargains but insists on going to the best restaurants-penny wise and pound foolish . This phrase alludes to British currency, in which a pound was once worth 240 pennies, or pence, and is now worth 100 pence. The phrase is also occasionally used for being very careful about unimportant matters and careless about important ones. It was used in this way by Joseph Addison in The Spectator (1712): "A woman who will give up herself to a man in marriage where there is the least Room for such an apprehension ... may very properly be accused ... of being penny wise and pound foolish." [c. 1600]

See also: and, foolish, penny, pound, wise

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.

penny wise and pound foolish

careful and economical in small matters while being wasteful or extravagant in large ones.

See also: and, foolish, penny, pound, wise

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

penny wise and pound foolish

Penurious about small expenses and extravagant with large ones. That such a course is to be deplored was already made clear in the sixteenth century and was soon transferred to the foolishness of being fastidious about unimportant matters and careless about important ones. In The Spectator of 1712 Joseph Addison wrote, “I think a Woman who will give up herself to a Man in marriage, where there is the least Room for such an Apprehension . . . may very properly be accused . . . of being Penny Wise and Pound foolish.”

See also: and, foolish, penny, pound, wise

See also:

References in periodicals archive

"China is penny wise and pound foolish on the battery issue as they prevent Korean companies from making massive investments there," Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, said in a press conference in Seoul.

'Battery issue in China to be settled'

There is also an old adage at work here: Penny wise and pound foolish. While spending thousands of dirhams on a holiday, many people are reluctant to spend money on creating a safety barrier for their homes, and this lapse can end up costing them dearly.

Pre-holiday precautions are a best practice

One added: "It's being penny wise and pound foolish.

COLD CASE; Cops turn off heat to save money

"If you are penny wise and pound foolish" you'll soon be in the red.

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Substandard, spurious, defective and throwaway materials are sold under the guise of 'sales' to people who can be classified as living examples of the proverb 'Penny wise and pound foolish'.

Shoppers deceived

"Penny wise and pound foolish springs to mind when thinking of Kirklees Council."

Views from our website; On the web So what do YOU think? Join the debate on our Forums at ... www.examiner.co.uk

"You can be penny wise and pound foolish by trying to get through the analysis stage on the cheap," he says.

Anaheim's test drive: what do teachers need to create a tech-forward classroom? This district found an unusual way to make sure the teachers' demands are met

I just fail to understand how any government could have been so short-sighted, penny wise and pound foolish. I hope lessons have been learnt for the future.

Letter: Let's hope these lessons are learnt

Many firms are penny wise and pound foolish not to employ adequate support staff who can take messages and find out what people really need.

Back to basics. (Letters)

"Maintaining a Premiership position is our priority over the short-, medium- and long- term and while any extra revenue is always welcome, we cannot afford to be penny wise and pound foolish."

FOOTBALL: I'm Dunn talking to my boss Souness

Avoiding those minor sources would be penny wise and pound foolish."

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Yet the irony is that by adopting this tactic the Government has been penny wise and pound foolish: by reducing the availability of care home places, elderly people are staying longer in much more expensive hospital beds.

Leading Article: Care homes crisis so clear

VANCOUVER -- The provincial government was penny wise and pound foolish when it imposed more than a 38% cut over three years on the legal aid budget, said the Law Society of British Columbia.

B.C. appoints trustee to replace rebellious legal aid board. (General)

Talk about penny wise and pound foolish - an expensive mistake that turned out to be!

Eamonn Holmes' column: Outfoxed at box office