spare seg til fant

14:46 Mar 19, 2009

This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other

Norwegian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

Norwegian term or phrase: spare seg til fant

Det finnes et annet norsk uttrykk - "spare på skillingen og la daleren gå" ("be penny-wise and pound-foolish"). Noen som har en formening om hvorvidt disse uttrykkene er like semantisk sett? Eventuelt hvorfor ikke?

Thomas Deschington KudoZ activity Questions: 116 (4 open) (2 without valid answers) (22 closed without grading) Answers: 210 Poland
Local time: 09:17

Summary of answers provided

Miser

Jande

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

5 days confidence:

Miser

Explanation:
Miser - A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miser

You can also say "Money Miser"

Scrooge - Based Ebenezer Scrooge, miserly protagonist of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A mean-spirited miserly person; a skinflint. A stingy person: miser, niggard, skinflint. Informal: penny pincher. Slang: cheapskate, stiff, tightwad.

http://www.answers.com/scrooge

Another common saying is "tightarse"

All these terms have similar, but slightly different meanings.

For example, a scrooge often does not live in poverty, but a miser would. A cheapskate might buy something cheap, a tightarse might not buy it at all. A penny pincher might take money, but not be liberal with spending it.

Some similar English sayings include:
"If you look after your cents the dollars will take care of themselves"
"If you look after the pennies, the dollars will look after themselves."

These sayings are not exactly the same as the "miser" way of life. A miser looks after his pennies, but may not necessarily have financial smarts. A person who takes care of their pennies may not necessarily be a miser. The penny/pound or dollar/cents sayings imply financial smarts. Miser implies a more miserable person who won't let go of their money.

Wikipedia compares a miser with a capatilist. "The difference is that, unlike the miser, the capitalist does spend his money and is typically portrayed leading a decadent life."

Jande
Australia
Local time: 17:17
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for your exhaustive answer. I don't think miser or similar terms will fit here. I'm not much of an etymologist, but I do see the possibility that "å spare seg til fant" may originally have referred to a miser's way of living. However, looking at examples from newspaper articles, the expression is almost exclusively used in the context of having to spend more money later because one wanted to save at an earlier stage. It's more a question of unwise money management than actually being a miser, if you know what I mean.

The asker has declined this answer

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

spare seg til fant

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

spare seg til fant

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language