名人教英文：小钱精明，大钱胡涂
penny wise pound foolish
小钱精明，大钱胡涂
hemant: i went with leila to the market yesterday. she's a really savvy shopper.
赫曼﹕我昨天和拉莉一起上市场。她买东西，真会精打细算。
anar: i know. she always manages to buy everything at the lowest price.
阿纳﹕我知道。她什么都是价钱最低时买的。
hemant: she must save herself quite a lot of money that way.
赫曼﹕她一定节省不少钱。
anar: oh i'm sure she does. on the other hand she spends lots and lots of money on her pet dog and never worries about the cost.
阿纳﹕这个自然。不过，她花很多钱在爱犬身上，从不吝啬。
hemant: she really loves that animal. can't do enough for him.
赫曼﹕她实在很爱那只狗，爱得不惜一切。
anar: but she'll buy really expensive stuff for him that you could buy much cheaper.
阿纳﹕她买给狗的东西，十分昂贵，但其实可以便宜得多。
hemant: she's penny wise and pound foolish.
赫曼﹕她是小钱精明，大钱胡涂。
anar: yes, she's saving small amounts of money on the one hand, but wasting hundreds on the other.
阿纳﹕是啊，她一面锱铢必较，一面却一百元一百元的乱花。
赫曼说，拉莉很爱她的狗﹕can't do enough for him。这一句，照字面直译，是说「不可为他做到足够」，但意思则是「无论为他做了多少事情，都不可算是足够」。谨再举两个例子﹕(1) i can hardly thank you enough for your help（承蒙相助，不胜感谢）。(2) no dictator can sing enough of his own praises（没有一个独夫不是早晚不断自我颂歌的）。
can't ... enough之外，can't ... too/over也是常见误解的句式。请看以下两句﹕(1) you can't be too courteous in the presence of women。(2) the harm they have done our country cannot be overstated/exaggerated。这两句，切勿解作「在妇女跟前不可太过有礼」以及「不要渲染他们对我国的破坏」，而应解作「在妇女跟前，必须彬彬有礼」以及「他们对我国破坏之巨，难以言喻」。
penny wise and pound foolish是成语，直译是「便士聪明，英镑愚蠢」，意思是「小处会打算盘，大处却浪费」，有时略作penny wise，例如﹕he did not pay for the maintenance of the photocopier. as a result, he had to pay heavily for repairs. he was penny wise only（他不肯出钱保养复印机，结果要花不少钱修理，可谓只会小处打算盘）。
英文还有一句成语，和penny wise and pound foolish意思似乎有点矛盾﹕take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves（爱惜便士，英镑就会自我爱惜）。这是「积少成多」的意思。