-24
A miser is someone who is infatuated with the past, and is grumpy about the present, so when did it come to mean someone who is a cheapskate and stingy over money? (lemmy.today)
submitted 4 days ago by Sparky@lemmy.today to c/AskUSA@discuss.online
41 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A miser is someone who is infatuated with the past, and is grumpy about the present, (compared to depressive, or someone who is infatuated with the future, and depressed about the present), so when did it come to mean someone who is a cheapskate and stingy over money?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 days ago

Yeah, no. Charles Dickens used the word to describe his character Ebenezer Scrooge as a greedy old penny-pincher, in A Christmas Carol. That book was written in the 1800's, and it was a commonly used word even then.

The definition you're using, simply doesn't apply. That's not what that word has ever meant.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
-24 points (10.0% liked)

AskUSA

1321 readers
3 users here now

About

Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the USA. Non-US people are welcome to provide their perspective! Please keep in mind:

  1. !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world - politics in our daily lives is inescapable, but please post overtly political things there rather than here
  2. !flippanarchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com - similarly things with the goal of overt agitation have their place, which is there rather than here

Rules

  1. Be nice or gtfo
  2. Discussions of overt political or agitation nature belong elsewhere
  3. Follow the rules of discuss.online

Sister communities

  1. !askuk@feddit.uk
  2. !casualuk@feddit.uk
  3. !casualconversation@lemm.ee
  4. !yurop@lemm.ee
  5. !esp@lemm.ee

Related communities

  1. !asklemmy@lemmy.world
  2. !asklemmy@sh.itjust.works
  3. !nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
  4. !showerthoughts@lemmy.world
  5. !uspolitics@lemmy.world
  6. !politics@piefed.social

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
OpenStars@discuss.online
m_f@midwest.social
m_f@discuss.online
Anticorp@lemmy.world