To pinch pennies

Question

Hi,"to work as an office cipher pinching pennies with delight"Does this phrase simply mean "to work as a (very poorly-paid) office clerk, and yet be happy with the "peanuts" you boss pays you"?

Nel0506 · Accepted Answer

Probably.

(It would make a difference if the "office cipher" were the CPA or accountant.)

https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/pinching-pennies

Anonymous · Answer

vlivef
Hi,
"to work as an office cipher pinching pennies with delight"
Does this phrase simply mean "to work as a (very poorly-paid) office clerk, and yet be happy with the "peanuts" you boss pays you"?

We can't tell. This is from blog by some self-styled internet reviewer of stage plays whose attempts at cleverness seem to fall a bit short sometimes. At first glance it seems to mean that his unimportant job at the office involved cost-cutting, and he enjoyed it. My problem is that that seems unlikely because who would enjoy that? On the other hand, who would enjoy practicing rigorous economy at home because of low pay? I would just chalk that up to bad writing in an unedited blog and forget it.

Nel0506 · Answer

Your first assumption seems best. It's sarcasm most probably.

To pinch pennies

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions