【美国习语】292 微不足道，守财奴，因小失大，数目可观的钱

英语自学网

【节目介绍】:本节目每天早上9点更新，介绍美国的习惯用语，让大家有更开阔的语言视角。适合各个阶层的人学习，难度中等。大家只要听写出音频中的例句就可以了，本期一共四段例句。听写不需要打引号，句子间也不用编序号。音频中听到的所有习语，提交后都均可在译文部分找到。
hints:
Mercedes
注：本期只读一遍。This man tells everybody he owns a taxi company, so they all think he's a big boss. But the company is really penny-ante, he only owns one taxi and he drives it himself.
That old man retired with $20 million in the bank. But he's such a penny pincher he still buys his clothes secondhand and drives a car he bought 20 years ago.
Our boss is penny-wise, he makes sure that we don't throw away rubber bands and paper clips. But he's not so good when it comes to big things like buying the best computer system.
Have you seen the new car our neighbor bought? It's a Mercedes and I'm sure it cost a pretty penny, I would guess at least $45,000.我们今天要学的习惯用语都围绕一个中心词汇：penny。Penny是分币。在英美等国的钱币中penny价值最低。如今你几乎想不出一个penny能买到什么东西，所以有人甚至提议不必再铸造penny了，然而即使penny真被取消，围绕penny构成的习惯用语却会长久地保存下去。我们要学的第一个习惯用语是: Penny-ante。 Penny-ante来自一种扑克牌游戏。在拿牌前，打牌的人先把赌注扔在桌面上，而penny ante就是小得不能再小、只一分钱的赌注。当然penny-ante在日常生活中有更为广泛的意义。让我们听一个例子来琢磨它的意思吧。
例句-1: This man tells everybody he owns a taxi company, so they all think he's a big boss. But the company is really penny-ante, he only owns one taxi and he drives it himself.
大家一定都听明白了，原来这个人的出租车公司简直小得不能再小；整个公司只拥有一辆车，而老板、雇员、司机统统加在一起也只有一个人，就是他本人。换句话说，他自己就是唯一那辆出租车的司机。从这段话我们看出penny-ante含义是微不足道的小事。
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一分钱固然微不足道，但是有些人即使是一分钱也不放松。这就是我们要学的下一个习惯用语: Penny pincher。 Pincher是把一样东西捏在食指和姆指之间的人。如果一个人连Penny这样一个小钱也捏得紧紧的，那他可真是个守财奴了。好吧，我们来听一个例子:
例句-2: That old man retired with $20 million in the bank. But he's such a penny pincher he still buys his clothes secondhand and drives a car he bought 20 years ago.
这段话说：那老人退休时在银行有两千万美元。可他真是一钱如命的守财奴；他仍在买别人穿过旧衣服穿。他开的车还是二十年前买的。
可见penny pincher意思是守财奴，吝啬鬼。
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视钱如命的人会千方百计地克扣小钱，但是这种人却不一定善于理财。我们接下来要学的习惯用语说的就是那种人。这个习惯用语是: penny-wise。 Penny-wise里面的wise意思是精明的。那么penny-wise就是在小钱上精打细算的。但是斤斤计较小钱的人到了该用大钱的时候是不是能把钱用在刀口上呢?让我们来听一个例子。这是一个人在议论他们的主管:
例句-3: Our boss is penny-wise, he makes sure that we don't throw away rubber bands and paper clips. But he's not so good when it comes to big things like buying the best computer system.
那位主管专管手下人丢橡皮筋和回形针之类鸡毛蒜皮的小事，但是当面临购买最好的电脑系统之类大事的时候，他反倒不行了。
这样看来这位老板可真是个抓了芝麻、丢了西瓜的人物。换句话说，penny-wise有因小失大的含义。
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我们接下来要学的习惯用语是: pretty penny。看了字面意思你也许认为pretty penny是"美好的一分钱"。你先别忙下结论，让我们通过一个例子来判断它的意思
例句-4: Have you seen the new car our neighbor bought? It's a Mercedes and I'm sure it cost a pretty penny, I would guess at least $45,000.
他说：你有没有看到邻居买的新车?这是一辆Mercedes牌的车，肯定价格昂贵。我猜至少得花四万五千美元。
大家都知道Mercedes是豪华的名牌车，贵得惊人，所以a pretty penny实际上是指一笔数目可观的钱。