Worth Saving Trivia Quiz

Answer: Foot the bill

'Foot the bill' traces back to mid‑19th‑century accounting, where 'to foot' meant totalling the figures in a list of charges at the bottom of the bill. Now it has come to mean paying for something, typically for someone else, or a group of people.

Answer: Make ends meet

To 'make ends meet' dates back to the late 1600s, most likely from sailors splicing broken ropes. Another possible origin is from bookkeepers balancing income‑and‑expenses columns in a ledger. Today, it means having enough money to cover your expenses and to live within your means.

Answer: Penny-pinching

While today the term 'penny‑pinching' refers to someone extra-careful with their money, it was first recorded in Thomas Dekker's "Shoemakers' Holiday". The term 'penny‑pinching' goes back to at least the early 1600s, and conjures up a picture of literally clutching a penny so as not to lose it.

Answer: Get more bang for your buck

To 'get more bang for your buck' popped up in the 1950s, and originally refered to U.S. military spending, where there was a possibility of getting more fire-power for the amount of money in the military budget. It is likely to have been an adaptation of a 1950 slogan from Pepsi-Cola, which was 'More Bounce to the Ounce'; 'to get more bang for your buck' has come to mean getting greater value for what you pay.

Answer: Rainy day fund

A 'rainy day fund' borrows from the expression 'save for a rainy day.' This phrase dates back to the mid‑1500s when people literally saved up in anticipation of bad weather when food and the cost of living became more expensive. Its modern meaning hasn't changed much, as it still conveys the idea of putting money aside for emergencies or unexpected costs.

Answer: Tighten your belt

While the phrase originated from the late 1800s in times of economic hardship when people didn't have enough to eat and literally had to tighten their belts, the idiom 'tighten your belt' has now come to means to reduce expenditure and to spend more judiciously.

Answer: Put your money where your mouth is

Much like 'put up or shut up', the idiom to 'put your money where your mouth is' means to show by your actions that the advice you are giving is sound. Its origin is most likely gambling-related. It dates back to early 20th-century America where it first appeared around the 1930s.

Answer: Throw good money after bad

'Throw good money after bad' is an English phrase that goes back to at least the 18th century, when it was first used about someone who spent more money to recover a previous loss.

Examples of this behaviour could include when someone keeps on gambling after a series of unfortuante bets, or spends a lot of money on a lemon of a car, or persists in believing a failed business venture will eventually succeed.

Answer: Nest egg

The phrase 'nest egg' comes from the old farming practise of dropping a real or fake egg, usually made from ceramic or china, in a hen's nest to encourage more laying. This was done as early as the 1300s. It became a term related to finance by around the late 17th century where it appeared in correspondence, where it was clear that it referred to putting some money aside against future need.

Answer: Cost an arm and a leg

Coming from America in the around the late 1940s, to 'cost an arm and a leg' is an expression possibly inspired by the enormous cost of losing a limb in wartime. It may also be a conflation with an older phrase such as to 'give my right arm.' Either way, the phrase lingers as a vivid indication of how expensive sonmething is!