| 释义 |
ˈpenny-ˈwise, adj. phr. or a.
[cf. penny 5.]
Wise or prudent in regard to pence, i.e. careful (esp. over-careful) in small expenditures; usually in phr. penny-wise and pound-foolish, thrifty in small matters while careless or wasteful in large ones.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 609 If by covetousnesse or negligence, one withdraw from them their ordinary foode, he shall be penny wise, and pound foolish: that is, suffer a great losse in his cattel, for saving from them a little meat. 1607–12Bacon Ess., Riches (Arb.) 238 Be not penny-wise; Riches have winges, and sometymes they fly away of themselves. 1712Addison Spect. No. 295 ⁋6, I think a Woman who will give up her self 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. 1842Thackeray Miss Löwe Wks. 1886 XXIII. 272 What a miserable penny-wise economist you have been!
Hence penny-wisdom, the quality of being ‘penny-wise’; penny-ˌwise-pound-ˈfoolishness.
1829Bentham Justice & Cod. Petit. 116 That humanity which has penny wisdom for its counsellor. 1850Athenæum 23 Feb. 212/2 This seems to us the very quintessence of penny wisdom and pound folly in management. 1860Sala Lady Chesterf. v. 8 Penny-wisdom, and pound-foolishness are now as prevalent as ever. 1895Westm. Gaz. 3 Dec. 2/2 It is folly..to cripple and maim our own people by the penny-wise-pound-foolishness of ‘twopenny-halfpenny’ education. |