Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[BMO]

What are the ends? Income on one hand and expenditure on the other? Or all expenses?

Thanks.

bmo

[toe]

i like that! never thought about the exact meaning before for "making ends meet."

"Income on one hand and expenditure on the other?"

that certainly could be true. this is one of the most common phrases, but i'll bet that no one really thinks about what the "ends" are. your idea of making income meet expediture sounds perfectly valid.

there's so many expressions we all use, that we don't even think about--we understand the idea we want to get across by using them, but exact meanings...we probably don't give them much thought at all.

great catch, bmo!

^^ toe

[bud]

Exactly, Toe! Neither have I ever thought about why we use that expression. Good job, BMO!

[BMO]

Thanks to toe and Bud, but I can't claim the credit. I saw it at several Taiwanese English websites (they probably copy from one another.)

My original question was, was the ends referring to the incoming and outgoing money being matched perfectly, so that there isn't any savings, or was it many different expenditures one must fulfill? (and did not say anything about the income.)

It looks like both you think the former is correct.

Thanks.

bmo

[bud]

Yes, the former.

[BMO]

Thanks.

bmo