Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[moonsun]

[size=18]"A modest weakening of house prices in America would hurt consumer spending, because homeowners have been cashing out their capital gains at a record pace. "

I think "capital gains" means "the net income obtained by selling a house". Right?
Does "cash out" mean "spend"? But I haven't found this meaning in any dictionary.

Thank u.[/size]

[bud]

[moonsun]

But "cash" alone means "convert", why is "out" put aftter "cash"? I think "out" should be omitted here. Right?

[CP]

The expression isn't something that you can translate word by word. A lot of verbs in English are changed by adding "up," "out," and other particles, and they have their own meanings. If you omit the particle, you have a different verb.

For example: To be fed is to be given food to eat. To be fed up is to reach the point where something is no longer tolerable, and it's time to do something about it.

To cash something (usually a check or some equivalent) is to trade it for folding money or deposit it into an account. But to cash out is to sell the object or the chips and quit the game / leave the market altogether. That's why Bud mentioned selling your chips and going home when you cash out at a casino.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[bud]

Yes, and to make it even more confusing, we have "cash in" which is defined by Cambridge Dictionaries Online as:

"cash in on sth (phrasal verb)
to get money or another advantage from an event or situation, often in an unfair way"

For example, when there is a long blackout (an interruption of electricty service), some people try to cash in on the crisis by selling necessities (such as cold water in the summer) for very high prices. It's called price-gouging.

"Cash in" also has a more literal meaning. If I win a big lottery, I will hire a financial expert before I cash in my ticket.