{"id":2610,"date":"2013-02-15T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=2610"},"modified":"2013-02-15T13:28:03","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T18:28:03","slug":"a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned-not-any-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned-not-any-more\/","title":{"rendered":"A penny saved is a penny earned \u2013 not any more."},"content":{"rendered":"

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“A penny saved is a penny earned” is an English idiom that means: money that you save is more valuable than money that you spend right away.<\/p>\n

This idiom comes from the idea that every little bit of money helps, but a lot of people don\u2019t think a penny is really worth saving because\u00a0it is such a small amount of money.\u00a0 A penny is worth only 1\/100 of a dollar.\u00a0 You can\u2019t buy anything with a penny in the US nowadays.\u00a0 In the past pennies could buy small things, like a piece of candy, but that isn\u2019t true anymore. Now you will need at least a quarter (1\/4 of a dollar) to get a piece of candy in most places in the US.\u00a0 Even the next piece of money up from a penny, the nickel, which is worth 5 pennies and is 1\/20 of a dollar, won\u2019t buy you much in the US.<\/p>\n

The idiom, a penny saved is a penny earned, is an idiom that is from another time in history, it has become antiquated*, even though it is still used in modern everyday English.\u00a0 It may not be used any more in Canada though, because Canada no longer is using pennies as money!\u00a0 Back in May 2012 the Canadian government stopped making pennies and just a last week (February 4, 2013) they stopped being distributed as money.\u00a0 What this means is that starting last week vendors and shop owners have been encouraged to round all prices of goods to the nearest nickel and they no longer have to give change to customers in pennies.\u00a0 So if you buy something in Canada that used to cost $1.28 cents it now will cost $1.30. Pennies will still exists and people will still use them for some time, but no banks or store owners will give them out to customers when making change.\u00a0 So, what will Canadians do with all the old pennies they have? Take a look at this article from the Huffington Post<\/em> that offers some ideas, including art projects and turning them into screws and nails.<\/p>\n

Link: http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/2013\/02\/04\/canada-penny-elimination_n_2613216.html<\/a><\/p>\n

The United States still uses its pennies as money, but Americans have been calling for the end of the US penny as well.\u00a0 After all it costs more than 1 penny to make 1 penny!\u00a0 It costs approximately 1.6 pennies to make 1 US penny.\u00a0 If you want a real English listening challenge take a look at this You Tube video entitled I Hate Pennies!!!<\/em> To hear about why one man thinks the US should get rid of its penny just like the Canadians got rid of theirs.\u00a0 I have to warn you, the man in this video talks FAST and this is not the easiest video to understand. If you are up to the challenge take a listen and good luck!<\/p>\n