The term “cheapskate” is used negatively to describe someone who hoards resources at the expense of others. The origin of the word is debated, but being stingy is not the same as being poor. Saving money is generally viewed positively, but situations where spending money is expected can differentiate a frugal person from a tight-fisted one. These situations include gift-giving, sharing a meal, drinking at a bar, going on a date, and contributing to charity. Most people recognize these situations and avoid acting miserly.
A stingy is a negative term for a person who saves money and resources. While there are many positive terms in the English language for a person who saves money, the use of the term cheapskate is intended to characterize the frugal person as someone who hoards resources at the expense of others. As such, it is often used as a direct insult, or during a narrative of how, in a particular case, the person was a cheapskate.
The origin of this word is hotly debated, but ‘skate’ is often thought to be a derivative of a word meaning ‘creepy’ or ‘boy’, with ‘cheap’ retaining its current meaning. Other popular etymologies revolve around a “Gate of Cheap” where misers once hung out, a shoe worn on the foot or even the “shoe” of the fish. These are often argued, but there is no clear etymology of the word.
Being stingy is not the same thing as being poor. A cheapskate has money and refuses to spend it. In the past, people who were poor and unable to spend money were characterized by this nickname, but more recently, sensitivity to poverty has made it socially acceptable for poor people to engage in self-preservation.
Many people don’t consider saving money a negative quality. In fact, being thrifty or frugal is almost always a positive trait, and having a large savings account can be considered a positive attribute. Even so, the same people who view saving money positively may also observe some situations where being polite or nice involves spending money. It is a contempt for these situations that differentiates a frugal person seen positively from a tight-fisted person seen negatively.
It is almost always expected that if someone attends a function where gifts are customary, they should bring a gift befitting their personal wealth or the occasion. For example, a child may give a handmade greeting card as a birthday present, but a middle-class adult may be expected to bring a gift that falls within an appropriate monetary range in some flexible way. These guidelines are approximate, but a large deviation from them with the intention of saving money is characteristic of a tight-fisted person.
Other causes that require monetary expenditure include sharing a meal, drinking at a bar, or going on a date. Human charity is also sometimes considered a situation that requires a monetary contribution, but this is typically only true if someone is OK with the cause and has sufficient funds. Even within communities that use the term stingy, situations where money needs to be spent in order not to be characterized as stingy can be somewhat different. Most people intuitively recognize what these situations are for the cultures they are familiar with, and thus avoid acting in ways that would qualify them as miserly.
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