What Does a Penny Wise and Pound Foolish?

: careful about small amounts of money but not about large amounts —used especially to describe something that is done to save a small amount of money now but that will cost a large amount of money in the future The plans to cut funding are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

What does penny foolish and pound wise mean?

: careful about small amounts of money but not about large amounts —used especially to describe something that is done to save a small amount of money now but that will cost a large amount of money in the future The plans to cut funding are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Where does the term penny wise and pound foolish come from?

The term penny wise and pound foolish was coined by Robert Burton in his work The Anatomy of Melancholy published in 1621. Burton was a scholar at Oxford University, primarily in the field of mathematics. He wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy as therapy for his own chronic depression.