迷你对话：

A: He is penny wise and pound-foolish.

他这个人小处精明，大处糊涂。

B: Why do you say so?

怎么这样说他。

A: The trash of the world he sets high price upon, but the heavenly things he shamefully undervalues.

对废物估价太高，对珍品却呲之以鼻。

B: Maybe all of us are the same.

或许我们都大同小异。

地道表达：

penny wise and pound-foolish

解词释义：

此语的意思是指小处精明，大处浪费，明于小事而昧于大事。其英文解释为：unwise because doing something small now would prevent much more trouble later。

支持范例：

Education budget cuts are penny wise and pound foolish ——public education is an investment in our future.

教育预算削减是明于小事而昧于大事，因为学校教育是我们将来的一项投资。

Asking the workers not to make private phone calls from the office is not likely to reduce the firm’s losses, it is just being penny wise and pound-foolish.

要工作人员不在办公室打私人电话不大可能减少企业的亏损，那只是打小段盘而忽略大处。

词海拾贝：

set high price (upon)：在......设置高价格

范例：You remember the child who set a high price on this picture?

你还记得那个买这幅画要了高价的孩子吗？

He set a high price on his services.

他把服务费用定得很高。

She has set a high price on the fashion dress so that nobody want to buy it.

她把这款时尚的裙子的价位定得太高了，因此没有人想去买。