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Vocabulary: generosity and meanness

We're really not going to deal with "MONEY" itself, or silver... but with the feelings it inspires: an excessive, exaggerated, abnormal desire to keep and hoard money, not only because of the power it may grant, but also because of the effects and feelings of satisfaction to "own much" or to possess an exaggerated quantity of money to touch and admire. Scrooge McDuck loves money, has tons of it, bathes in gold, hoards and saves...

On the contrary, some other people spend without limits, including the money that they don't have. In fact, you'll realise that conversations deal with the topic very much and quite often.

To be extravagant= to spend too much...

Generous/ generosity		To be open-handed
To spare no expense to do stg		Selfless/ unselfish
Extravagant		To spend lavishly
To be a spendthrift		To spend money like water
To squander		To be self-indulgent
To pay in cold hard cash

Greed To be a skinflint

Mean/ miserly		A miser
Avarice		Greed/ greedy
To be close-fisted To be tight-fisted		Stingy Grasping
Greedy		A skinflint/ a cheapstake
To save money		To skimp/ to scrimp
To be thrifty		An egoist
Egoistical Selfish		To be self-centred To be self-centered

To be broke= to have no money left To make a bundle

A FEW IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS:

- A penny-pincher/ tightwad (US)/ cheapskate/ skinflint

- To be cheeseparing/ to be penny-pinching

- To go broke: to lose all of one's money

- A Dutch Treat: both persons pay their own way, also known as “going Dutch”.

- To grease your palm: to bribe or give a tip.

- Hit the Jackpot: to make a lot of money

- To make a bundle: to make (earn) a large amount of money.

- In the Red: this indicates a situation that is not making a profit.

- "Penny for your thoughts": to ask someone what they are thinking about, often used when a person appears to be lost in thought.

There you are! Quite a lot of varied expressions... but you won't have to know them all - and I selected the most frequent ones.

I'm sure you'll do great!

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1. She’ s such a , but mostly she is an impulsive buyer who can’t resist her desires.

2. His parents and saved all their lives so that Elliot could go to University.

3. 'Of course he has good wages, but if he keeps his money, he 'll soon have to borrow from you.'

4. Spencer is so that he never puts any money in the kitty to buy goodies.

5. 'Stop being for once and think about what other people may feel when you act like that!'

6. 'Yes, I’ll go to dinner with you, but only if you accept ... I’ll pay for what I eat...'

7. Ben’s a dreamer. He plays lotto and is sure he will very quickly.

8. 'No need to be a . You should simply plan your expenses and stick to them.'

9. 'I can’t go to the movies with you. I’m . It should be better next week.'

10. When young, he used to be , but now he’s decided to ' seize the day ', and spends money like mad.

A skinflint on the left // A spendthrift, a squanderer on the right.

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