Money
A bigger bang for your buck
Meaning
Better value for your money.
Examples
Those Chinese fireworks are so cheap. We literally get a bigger bang for our buck.
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but overused to the point of cliche.
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A dime a dozen
Meaning
So commonplace as to be of little consequence.
Examples
Red buses in London. they’re a dime a dozen.
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
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A fool and his money are soon parted
Meaning
A foolish person is very likely to lose his money.
Examples
He’s off to the casino again – ’a fool and his money…’ I say.
Where did it originate?
The United Kingdom – 16th century.
Where is it used?
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A golden key can open any door
Meaning
Money always has a telling influence.
Examples
He’s not really good enough to be an F1 driver but he got in the team because he brought a major sponsorship deal with him. As they say, a golden key can open any door.
Where did it originate?
The United Kingdom.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but somewhat uncommon.
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A penny for your thoughts
Meaning
A way of asking what someone is thinking.
Examples
You’ve been gazing out the window with a wistful look for ages. A penny for your thoughts?
Where did it originate?
The United Kingdom – 16th century.
Where is it used?
Most common in Britain (although we don’t use pennies here any longer).
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A penny saved is a penny earned
Meaning
Anything you save has the same effect as adding to your income.
Examples
I put all my small change into a jar every day. It’s not much, but a penny saved is a penny earned.
Where did it originate?
The United Kingdom – 17th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but uncommon.
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An arm and a leg
Meaning
Very expensive. A large amount of money.
Examples
That new lawnmower is top of the range. It cost me an arm and a leg.
Where did it originate?
USA, mid-20th century. Often mistakenly thought to be related to the high cost of painting full-length portraits.
Where is it used?
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Bean counter
Meaning
A disparaging term for an accountant or anyone who compiles statistics.
Examples
It’s a shame. Jim was a first rate pure mathematician but the bank offered him so much money to be their bean counter he decided to take it.
Where did it originate?
New Zealand.
Where is it used?
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How the idiom originated
Bedroom tax
Meaning
slang term for UK’s removal of Spare Room Subsidy.
Examples
Just because I’ve got a room to keep my son’s wheelchair I’m going to be caught by the bedroom tax.
Where did it originate?
Britain, following the introduction of the Spare Room Subsidy in the UK in 2013.
Where is it used?
Britain.
Hear the idiom spoken
Beyond price
Meaning
To be so prized and valuable as to not be obtainable by money.
Examples
Getting in to the school hall for the annual nativity play cost us $5 but seeing little Angie in the lead role was beyond price.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 16th century.
Where is it used?
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Chicken feed
Meaning
Something of little importance, especially a small sum of money.
Examples
The newsagent is really ripping off the kids who deliver the papers for him. He’s paying them chicken feed.
Where did it originate?
USA, mid-19th century.
Where is it used?
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Mates rates
Meaning
A discount price offered to friends.
Examples
I can’t really afford to get the roof fixed but my pal Jim is a builder, maybe hell give me mates rates.
Where did it originate?
Australian origin, 20th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but most common down under.
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Nest egg
Meaning
Savings set aside for future use.
Examples
That pension will keep building until I’m 65. Its a good little nest egg.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 17th century.
Where is it used?
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Ring fencing
Meaning
Earmarking funds to guarantee a specific project can go ahead.
Examples
The government is making major cuts in spending, but at least the hospital will stay open – medical funding is ring-fenced.
Where did it originate?
Britain, early 20th century.
Where is it used?
Hear the idiom spoken
How the idiom originated
Scot-free
Meaning
Without payment.
Examples
He was lucky that the traffic warden’s pen ran out and he didn’t get a ticket. He got off scot free.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 16th century. Not, as is often thought, related to the American slave Dred Scott.
Where is it used?
Hear the idiom spoken
How the idiom originated
Scrape together
Meaning
To manage, with difficulty, enough of what is needed – especially money.
Examples
Between three three of us we managed to scrape together £5 for a taxi home.
Where is it used?
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Skid row
Meaning
The rundown area of a city inhabited by the destitute.
Examples
Lost my job, Jill left me, started drinking – pretty soon I was on skid row.
Where did it originate?
USA, early 20th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but most common in the USA.
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Where there's muck there's brass
Meaning
Dirt and muddle are evidence of products being manufactured and money (brass) being made.
Examples
Stuff was coming in and out of the factory yard every five minutes and debris was piled everywhere. Business was brisk though – where there’s muck there’s brass you know.
Where did it originate?
Britain – especially Yorkshire.
Where is it used?
England, most commonly in the north of England.
Hear the idiom spoken
How the idiom originated
You can't take it with you
Meaning
Suggestion that you should spend money and live life now as it will be no use to you after you die.
Examples
Grandma saved all her life but lived on a pittance. No one told her that you can’t take it with you.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 1930s – deriving from several similar idioms dating from the early 19th century onward.
Where is it used?
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