Money, Money, Money – 8 English Idioms to talk about Money
In my last post, I told you that I was flying off to Barbados for a fortnight (two weeks). As you read this post, I am probably sunning myself at the beach or by the pool in our friends’ home. Ok, ok, I’ll stop bragging (showing off) and get to the point of today’s post.
One of the things we need to have when we go on holiday is money, of course. As I was thinking of how much to take with us and in what currency, I thought of all those wonderful idioms we have connected with the theme of money.
People say that “Money makes the world go round“, “Money talks” or as the Beatles sang “Money can’t buy me love“. Whatever we think of money, it’s important in our lives.
There are so many money expressions and idioms in the English Language that I could dedicate at least 5 posts to the topic. In this post, however, I want to share 8 money idioms.
Once again I have the pleasure of sharing this colourful infographic prepared by Kaplan International. You can find this infographic on the Kaplan website. I love the creative and humorous way the idioms are shown here.
Here is what they mean and how you could use them in a sentence:
1. Balance the books: to add up all the credits and debits of an account
結算、結賬
“Thomas is in charge of balancing the books at the end of each quarter for the business”
2. Bring home the bacon : to earn money to support the family
賺錢謀生、養家糊口
“James does overtime so that he can bring home the bacon.”
3. Go Dutch: splitting (sharing) the bill equally
AA制、平分賬單
“Matthew and Hazel always go dutch when they eat out.”
4. Gravy train: A job that pays a lot of money for very little effort
賺大錢的清閑差事、美差、肥缺
“Ian earns a fortune for three hours’ work a day. He’s really on the gravy train!”
5. Nest egg: Money that has been saved up over a period of time
儲蓄金、儲備金
“Over the years Leo has been very disciplined and saved every month. He now has a big nest egg on which he can retire.”
6. Cook the books: dishonest accounting
做假賬
“The financial world has seen many business that have cooked the books to make their businesses attractive to potential investors.”
7. Golden handshake: A payment to a departing employee (normally the top executives)
解雇金、退職金
“As CEO, Ross was given a golden handshake when he agreed to leave the company.”
8. Cheapskate: A person who does not like to spend money on people (This is not used as a compliment)
小氣鬼、吝嗇鬼
“Thomas did not want to spend $5 on flowers for his mother. What a cheapskate!”
