Author Topic: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?  (Read 4225 times)

wire

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I don't know if there is an idiom for it in English. I'm not English. Thanks.

lifejoy

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2016, 11:51:22 AM »
Give me some context? Does it mean that you don't want to look too closely into someone else's affairs?


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wire

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2016, 01:14:40 PM »
Give me some context? Does it mean that you don't want to look too closely into someone else's affairs?

More precisely: monetary affairs. Do you have a saying for that?

Kwill

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2016, 01:58:36 PM »
I think "I don't want to delve much into your finances" sounds better than using the word "pocket." That makes me think of someone with a hamster squirming around in his/her pocket. In the States, sometimes people say things like "Of course, it's none of my business, but . . ." and then they ask something personal about the other person or offer unsolicited advice about a personal matter.

wire

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2016, 09:42:26 PM »
I think "I don't want to delve much into your finances" sounds better
But they may still not use it in the States, do they? I mean, a quick Google search revealed this very thread being the top hit for this sentence.

With This Herring

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2016, 11:13:36 PM »
I don't think English has a specific idiom for it.  In the US (and I think many other English-speaking countries, but that is a guess), it is generally considered quite rude to ask about someone else about the specifics of his/her financial situation, how much money he/she earns, how much his/her car/house/other very large purchase cost.

We wouldn't really use that "delve" phrasing, but you have the right idea.  The word you are looking for is "pry;" a common phrasing for general rude-inquiry matters is "I don't mean to pry, but..." Less commonly, there is "I don't mean to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but..."  ("Nosiness" is trying to look into the dealings with others when one shouldn't.  It comes from the image of a next-door neighbor standing on tiptoes with a nose over the fence to peer in at what your family is doing.  It is considered an action of busybodies.)

I think "delve" is most commonly used when saying you will look into something.
"Let's delve into it later."

lifejoy

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2016, 08:25:21 AM »
I'm thinking that maybe we don't have an idiom for looking into other people's finances, because it simply isn't done ;)!

"Mind your own business" is a pretty good catch all phrase.


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lifejoy

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2016, 08:26:33 AM »
Just curious: what's your first language?


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Richie Poor

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Re: English idiom for 'I don't want to delve much into your pocket/finances'?
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2016, 08:54:47 AM »
I had a boss that used the expression "You can't count other people's money." I use it now as well when a conversation steers towards "Can that person really afford that car\boat\house?"



 

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