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жадный человек

English translation: tight person

21:39 Jan 23, 2003
Russian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Russian term or phrase: жадный человек
I know it may be "greedy man" or "avaricious man". What is the way to say it in English without hurting people just to tell them they should improve and be more generous!Thanks!
Olguita
English translation:tight person
Explanation:
At least in American English, you can tell someone they're a bit "tight" with their money and they should not take offense. Related to "tightwad" and "stingy" [adj.] which are a bit more offensive

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Note added at 2003-01-24 15:35:02 (GMT) Post-grading
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If the boyfriend is English, you should probaby consult with Jack or Dan for best results (and least insult :-)
Selected response from:

GaryG
Local time: 13:31
Grading comment
Thank you Garry! You helped me a lot! You think if my friend tells her English boyfriend: "Look, you're a tight man" he won't be hurt and will be more GENEROUS? Thanks!Please contact me with your answer. Olga.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6tight person
GaryG
4 +5(a bit) stingy person
Nikita Kobrin
4 +3см ниже
ttagir
4 +2meanie
xeni (X)
4 +2tight-fisted
Vladimir Binevitch (X)
5 +1Scroodge
Dash
5stingy
Samir
5possesive, grabby, grudging, mercenary, penny-pinching, insatiable, desirous
Sergey


  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
(a bit) stingy person


Explanation:
прижимистый

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Note added at 2003-01-23 21:57:33 (GMT)
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There\'re lots of English words for \"жадный\": cheap, cheeseparing, ||chinchy, chintzy, close, closefisted, costive, hardfisted, hardhanded, ironfisted, mean, mingy, miserly, ||narrow, narrow-fisted, narrowhearted, niggard, niggardly, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penny-wise, penurious, pinching, pinchpenny, save-all, ||scant, scrimpy, scrimy, tight, tightfisted, ungenerous, ungiving.


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Note added at 2003-01-23 22:14:26 (GMT)
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To express it in English without hurting people you can use \"a bit, slightly, somewhat, a little\" plus one of the following words: \"cheap, cheeseparing, close, costive, pinching, scrimpy, stingy, tight, ungenerous\".

Nikita Kobrin
Lithuania
Local time: 20:31
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 244

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yelena.
7 mins
agree  Jack Doughty: Out of that lot, I would say "ungenerous" would be considered the least insulting.
25 mins
  -> Thank you Jack: it was not easy to make a choice and I'm happy to see it among those selected by me.
agree  GaryG: Sorry, Nikita, I'd forgotten about your answer when researching my alternatives
34 mins
  -> It's OK, Gary, never mind moreover that you made it somewhat more clear.
agree  Sara Noss: I like your final ideas. A little cautious with money, maybe? Or, charitably challenged? PC style. ;-).
11 hrs
  -> There're lots of options.
agree  Alexandra Tussing
1 day 4 hrs
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
stingy


Explanation:
This is a word that I've heard quite often from them, when they want to say this and not to offend the other person. Maybe its closest analog in Russian is "скряга" или "жадоба"

Samir
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
possesive, grabby, grudging, mercenary, penny-pinching, insatiable, desirous


Explanation:
even impatient

Sergey
United States
Local time: 10:31
PRO pts in pair: 61

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jack Doughty: Possessive is the spelling, but the meaning is not quite the same. Insatiable and desirous are not the right meaning either. The others are OK.
21 mins
neutral  Gennady Bronshteyn: nothing offensive here
4 hrs
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42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
tight person


Explanation:
At least in American English, you can tell someone they're a bit "tight" with their money and they should not take offense. Related to "tightwad" and "stingy" [adj.] which are a bit more offensive

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-01-24 15:35:02 (GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

If the boyfriend is English, you should probaby consult with Jack or Dan for best results (and least insult :-)

GaryG
Local time: 13:31
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 3430
Grading comment
Thank you Garry! You helped me a lot! You think if my friend tells her English boyfriend: "Look, you're a tight man" he won't be hurt and will be more GENEROUS? Thanks!Please contact me with your answer. Olga.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Oleg Pashuk (X): too tight
1 hr
agree  Gennady Bronshteyn
3 hrs
agree  Andrew Vdovin
13 hrs
agree  Jack Doughty: OK, but in UK English if you say someone is "tight", it means he's drunk.
16 hrs
  -> Yes, I'd forgotten about that when I answered. Please feel free to advise Olga privately now that she's identified the recipient as English.
agree  Uldis Liepkalns
16 hrs
agree  Alexandra Tussing
1 day 3 hrs
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51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
см ниже


Explanation:
Почему бы не пойти с другого конца, если Вам не хочется обидеть человека? например:
... you are not a big spender, I guess
или, скажем,
seemingly, you should be quite opposite to all those wasting prodigals...
или же
I see wasting money is not your greatest hobby
ну и т. д. и т.п.
Если человек не понимает юмора или иронии вовсе, то надеяться на его исправление с помощью вежливого указания на его жмотистость (а жмот, это miser, skinflint, но все это человека обидит) трудновато. Есть еще такое слово eager, может как-то с ним поэкспериментировать?
Yours,
Tagir.


ttagir
Local time: 20:31
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in TatarTatar
PRO pts in pair: 492

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Simon Geoghegan: This is an excellent suggestion if the aim is to avoid offending the person in question. My own version of a classic piece of English understatement in this context would be: "he's not the most generous man I've ever met". But this will depend on context
12 hrs
agree  Jack Doughty: Very good suggestion.
15 hrs
agree  Alexandra Tussing
1 day 3 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
meanie


Explanation:
Don't be a meanie - не жадничай,
and this is not insulting. It might be kind of childish, but the more so, you cannot insult a person by saying it. It might considered as a joke on your part.





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Note added at 2003-01-24 02:54:19 (GMT)
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sorry, ... it might be considered as a joke.

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Note added at 2003-01-24 03:02:03 (GMT)
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Вот еще несколько синонимов, которые скорее означают экономный, чем жадный, и значит, не так обидно звучат :)

thrifty, conserving, frugal, money-conscious, preserving, prudent, saving, sparing, tight, unwasteful

xeni (X)
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 142

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sara Noss: Frugal/prudent
8 hrs
agree  Alexandra Tussing
1 day 55 mins
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
tight-fisted


Explanation:
Человек, крайне неохотно раастающийся со своими деньгами. Просто характеристика, не оскорбление.

Vladimir Binevitch (X)
Local time: 11:31
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Knowles: Hard to be sure without more context, but the best suggestion so far - not too colloquial and not too offensive
6 hrs
agree  Alexandra Tussing
23 hrs
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Scroodge


Explanation:
А может быть Скурдж, как героя Рождественских сказок Дикенса

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Note added at 2003-01-24 08:57:01 (GMT)
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Scrooge (Ebenezer Scroodge) - 1. a miserly curmudgeon in Dickens Christmas Carol; 2. any miserly person

Webster\'s

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Note added at 2003-01-24 08:58:25 (GMT)
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т.е. Скрудж

Dash
Ukraine
Local time: 20:31
PRO pts in pair: 35

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Varvara Ramodina: It would't hurt people and it will be a kind of simily.
5 hrs
neutral  Jack Doughty: There is no "d" in the English spelling of Ebenezer Scrooge, but Скрудж is the correct phonetic rendering in Russian. It is still a little impolte.
5 hrs
neutral  Alexandra Tussing: I think that caling someone a miserly curmudgeon equivalent is very polite.
17 hrs
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