英语词汇pennywise and pound foolish的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

pennywise and pound foolish. Known since at least the 16th century, this proverbial saying describes someone scru- pulously thrifty in small financial transactions and exceedingly careless in larger ones. It has been traced back to Robert Bur- ton’s Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–51). Recently the old phrase was polished up by Jim Yardley, writing in the New York Times (2/18/02) of a Texas man who got the contract to clean up 7.6 million pennies ($76,000 worth, 20 tons) belong- ing to the U.S. Mint. The coins had spilled in a highway acci- dent, resulting in a huge “pudding of mud and pennies.” Mr. Yardley gave a new twist to an old chiché when writing of the Texan’s “laundering” troubles: “Mr. Massengale is uncertain whether taking on the job was pennywise or 40,000 pounds of pennies foolish.”

词汇	pennywise and pound foolish
词源	pennywise and pound foolish. Known since at least the 16th century, this proverbial saying describes someone scru- pulously thrifty in small financial transactions and exceedingly careless in larger ones. It has been traced back to Robert Bur- ton’s Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–51). Recently the old phrase was polished up by Jim Yardley, writing in the New York Times (2/18/02) of a Texas man who got the contract to clean up 7.6 million pennies ($76,000 worth, 20 tons) belong- ing to the U.S. Mint. The coins had spilled in a highway acci- dent, resulting in a huge “pudding of mud and pennies.” Mr. Yardley gave a new twist to an old chiché when writing of the Texan’s “laundering” troubles: “Mr. Massengale is uncertain whether taking on the job was pennywise or 40,000 pounds of pennies foolish.”
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