WORD POWER
Money talks
Prerana Trehan

I know it is Valentine’s Day today and while I hate to sound like a wet blanket, do allow me to put in my two cents worth because it really pains me to see young people throw money around today. Most young people now have money to burn and Valentine’s gives them the perfect excuse to spend money like water. Money is no object for these youngsters and they don’t think twice before spending. But children of parents who don’t have easy money should understand that money doesn’t grow on trees.

For everyone from card companies to television channels to hotels, Valentine’s Day is just a licence to print money. As long as people have pots of money, these companies will continue minting money.

Last year, my neighbour’s son, too, wanted to take his girlfriend to the most expensive restaurant in town. When he asked his parents for money, they told him that they were not made of money. In the end he got what he wanted, but I am sure his outing cost his parents’ a pretty penny.

I spent the whole of last year telling him that a penny saved is a penny earned. I think the penny finally dropped because this year he has called his girlfriend over to his home for a quiet celebration.

Money talks: used to mean that people who are rich have a lot of power and influence

Wet blanket: someone who does or says something that stops other people from enjoying themselves Put your two cents (worth) in: to give your opinion in a conversation often when it is not wanted

Throw (your) money around: to often spend money on things that are not necessary

Have money to burn: to have a lot of money and spends large amounts of things that are not necessary Spend money like water: if someone spends money like water, they spend too much

Money (is) no object: something that you say which means it does not matter how much something costs because there is a lot of money available

Easy money: money that you earn with very little work or effort

Money doesn’t grow on trees: something that you say which means you should be careful how much money you spend because there is only a limited amount

Be a licence to print money: if a company or activity is a licence to print money, it causes people to become very rich without having to make any effort Pots of money: lot of money

Be minting money: to be earning a lot of money quickly

I’m not made of money: something that you say in order to tell someone who asks you for money that you do not have very much

Cost someone a pretty penny: to be very expensive

A penny saved is a penny earned: something that you say which means it is wise to save money

The penny drops: if you say the penny drops, you mean that you have finally understood something

The phrase Jekyll and Hyde is used to refer to the personality of a person who exhibits contradictory character traits. This phrase gained popularity following the publication of RL Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde in 1886. In the novel, a doctor, Dr Jeykll, discovers a drug which enables him to create for himself a separate personality which allows him to indulge his baser instincts. This wicked and evil personality is Mr Hyde. However, Hyde’s persona becomes more and more powerful and the drug loses its capacity to restore Jeykll entirely to his original form. Jeykll finally kills himself.

(Reference: Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms and A Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable)