Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CHEESEPARING

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connect today's word to others: When you need to describe a frugal, stingy, miserly person, today's word does so with a funny visual: someone hunched over your block of cheese, slicing off edges from it, making it smaller and smaller. Cheeseparing. We get clear images with the synonyms tightfisted and penny-pinching, too, images of a tightly closed fist and a pair of greedy fingers grasping a penny. But we don't get any vivid images with the synonyms parsimonious and penurious--they're both based on Latin words for abstract concepts. And, just to make things extra-complicated, both of those words have two meanings each. Could you explain them? That is, the parsimonious shopper is stingy and sparing with money, but what does a parsimonious writer do? And a penurious neighbor is cheap and stingy in a selfish way, but what do we mean when we talk about penurious neighborhoods? make your point with... "CHEESEPARING" To pare something is to trim it by slicing away thin layers of it. Imagine that your budget, or someone's salary, is like a nice fat block of cheese. When you pare cheese--when you cheesepare, that is--you're making lots of fussy little adjustments in order to save money, as if you're slicing off piece after piece from the block of cheese.     Pronunciation: CHEESE pear ing Part of speech: Both an adjective ("It's so cheeseparing," "It's a cheeseparing decision") and a noun ("Stop your cheeseparing," "There's been too much cheeseparing"). Other forms: cheesepare, cheesepared, cheeseparer(s) How to use it: This word has a negative tone. Even though frugality itself can be wise, the cheeseparing person is frugal in a mean, petty, stingy, and miserly way, scraping away as much as she can from others. So, to use the adjective, talk about cheeseparing people and personalities; cheeseparing corporations; cheeseparing budgets, allowances, and salaries; cheeseparing actions, policies, habits, lifestyles, etc. And to use the noun, talk about the all cheeseparing going on, about people and organizations inclined to cheeseparing, about the petty fortunes made by cheeseparing, about the harmful outcomes of cheeseparing, etc. Lastly, to use the verb, talk about people who cheesepare a salary, cheesepare a budget, cheesepare a certain amount of saved money ("they cheesepared ten grand with that move"), or cheesepare that money out of people ("they cheesepared ten grand from these workers"). examples: In an almost literal example of cheeseparing, one that went down in business history, American Airlines saved $40,000 per year by nixing a single olive from each passenger's salad. Each semester, teachers with over a hundred students are allotted only fifty sheets of blank paper, a cheeseparing policy that invariably forces them into paying for more from their own salaries. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "cheeseparing" means when you can explain it without saying "tight-fisted" or "Scrooge." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Wealthy, but cheeseparing, (some person or company) (insists on, or refuses to) _____." Example: "Wealthy, but cheeseparing, she refuses to order any drinks for the children besides ice water." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. "Bits & Pieces." This month, we're playing with affixes and combining forms, the bits and pieces of our language, matching them to their meanings. The more of these bits and pieces you know, the better you are at decoding unfamiliar words, which is sooo satisfying! I'll share the answers in each subsequent issue. Here are the answers from our previous issue: 1. "chloro-" means green. 2. "chrys-" means gold or yellow. 3. "melano-" means dark or black. 4. "leuco-" means white. 5. "rhodo-" means red, pink, or rose. Try this set today. It's all about spirituality: 1. "hagio-/hagi-" means _____. 2. "theo-" means _____. 3. "thaumato-" means _____. 4. "-latry" means _____. 5. "onto-" means _____.    Answer bank:       A. wonder, marvel, or miracle       B. worship       C. holy or saintly       D. being or existence       E. god(s) review today's word: 1. A close opposite of CHEESEPARING is A. GILT-EDGED. B. WHOLE-SOULED. C. OPENHANDED. 2. In yet another cheeseparing move, the management _____. A. revoked the employees' 5% store discount B. chose the prettier applicant over the more qualified one C. threatened a resident with eviction for rent paid one day late Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A