Idioms

Make ends meet

With the high cost of living in Hong Kong, it is possible that your parents sometimes have trouble making ends meet, that is, balancing their income and expenditure. There is a famous quotation from Charles Dickens' character Mr Micawber, who sadly ends up in debt: 'Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty ought and six, result misery.'

There are 20 shillings to a pound - so if you earn a little more than you spend you'll be happy. But if your expenditure exceeds your income, you will be unhappy. Making ends meet is important. If you are running up debts, it is time to tighten your belt (or to economise).

Possibly this idea of a belt is where the idiom 'making ends meet' comes from. It might also have to do with tailoring and having enough material to make a garment. Or it could be derived from book-keeping, with money coming in and going out, but the two columns must ultimately balance out (their ends must meet).

Some of the idioms about earning a living offer a clear picture of life centuries ago. The breadwinner works hard to keep the wolf from the door - to have just enough money to be able to eat and survive. Anyone who has a little spare cash should save it for a rainy day.

The moral is: Be careful with your pocket money.

Tie the knot