[Vocabulary] to spare money

[Will17]

Hello!

Does the phrase "to spare money" exist?

Thank you for your help
W

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello!

Does the phrase "to spare money" exist?

Thank you for your help
W

Not really. Though, in one sense you can spare money. You might have heard this song: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[susiedqq]

Where did you see that?

Context helps when asking a question like yours.


There is such a thing as "spare change" and an expression, "to spare no expense."

 

[Khosro]

Where did you see that?

Context helps when asking a question like yours.


There is such a thing as "spare change" and an expression, "to spare no expense."

I saw "to spare money" on the net, for example somewhere on CBS news. Since nither you nor bhaisahab admitted there exists such an expression I'd rather wait for more replys or consider "to spare money" to be wrong.

 

[BobK]

I saw "to spare money" on the net, for example somewhere on CBS news. ....

That doesn't tell us a lot, but the idiom 'spare no expense'/'no expense spared' may be relevant.

Also, I see no problem with this sort of utterance (which you might hear from someone down on his luck and asking for a small amount of money): 'Spare a <nature-of-request> for a poor <self-description>' - the general case of which bhai's Buddy can you spare a dime? is an instance.

b

 

[Coolfootluke]

I saw "to spare money" on the net, for example somewhere on CBS news. Since nither you nor bhaisahab admitted there exists such an expression I'd rather wait for more replys or consider "to spare money" to be wrong.

I am not a teacher.

Google any sequence of three words, and you'll get hits---mostly porn, but often contexts you would never have thought of in a thousand years. Come to think of it, I usually wouldn't have thought of the porn, either. What we native speakers are saying is that there is no fixed expression that includes "to spare money", the way there is with "to spare a [monetary unit]" or "spare change". Here's one sentence, as unlikely as it may be, off the top of my head: The Chancellor wants to spare money the embarrassment of devaluation.

 

[5jj]

I saw "to spare money" on the net, for example somewhere on CBS news. Since neither you nor bhaisahab admitted there exists such an expression I'd rather wait for more repl[STRIKE]y[/STRIKE]ies or consider "to spare money" to be wrong.

If you hunt around the net long enough, you will find some amazing constructions. Note that neither bhaisahab nor suziedqq explicity stated that it did not exist.

COCA gives no examples of spare (verb) money, three of spare the money, eighteen of spare a dime (17 of them referring directly to the song bhai mentioned, ''Buddy/brother can you spare a dime?'), two of spare a dollar, one of spare a nickel and none of spare a cent.

bhai's answer in post #2 is looking good to me.