# What does ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ mean?

To “penny wise and pound foolish” means to cautious with small sums but wasteful of large ones. Brewer's records this as a long-standing English proverb, familiar since at least the 17th century.

## What it means

- Brewer's records this as a long-standing English proverb, familiar since at least the 17th century.

## Action steps

1. Common critique of false economies.
2. Example: Cutting maintenance to save cash is penny wise and pound foolish.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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