bean counter
9
7.4
- noun
- /ˈbiːn ˈkaʊntər/
- Offensive
:
contador (despectivo)
- In many companies, the bean counters often overlook creative solutions in favor of strict budget adherence.
- bean counters know
- bean counters call
- government bean counters
He actually uses the term bean counter for that people who would, you know, be doing the supplies.
- He actually uses the term bean counter for that people who would, you know, be doing the supplies.
- We've just got to rejigger the way the beans are flowing, the bean counters have to start paying the doctors for keeping people healthy and and the patients as well.
- And they knew, you know, we've found when we sue them that, you know, the memos from their bean counters saying we're going to kill this many people, but we're still going to make money.
Examples
-
We might have something for the bean counters after all.
Fiction book (1999) -
Too many bean counters are the problem with so much of our new society.
Blog text (2) -
I am a bean counter.
-
First, listen to bean counters less and customers more.
-
And still the bean counters think that they know what's best.
-
See, my bosses are bean counters.
-
The bean counters are worried about overtime.
-
All my life, I've been a "number man" or a "bean counter," as they are sometimes referred to.
Blog text (6) -
There are too many little line items and complexities, and too many bean counters.
Blog text (2) -
Dad was an unimaginative bean counter for a firm in Manhattan's garment district, faithfully commuting into the city for three decades.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
212
2.7
A person who keeps and checks money records for people or companies
24
3.2
A person who records a business's money received and spent
A person who cares too much about small unimportant details in a hobby or project
A person who treats big problems as unimportant and focuses on small details
A person who worries about small things for no reason
Antonyms
How Meticulous
1
6.9
- Offensive
9
7.4
212
2.7
24
3.2
- Offensive
5
6.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'counter' clearly denotes 'someone who counts', but 'bean' is used metaphorically and does not directly indicate finance or accounting; the phrase is a cultural metaphor (counting beans = attending to trivial details). A B1 learner who knows both words could plausibly infer a sense like 'someone who obsessively counts or cares about small details', yet the specific pejorative meaning 'accountant/official who ignores the bigger picture' and its negative connotation typically require prior exposure.
Etymology
Bean counter comes from a simple image: a person sitting and counting beans one by one like a careful counter. So, because this picture shows someone who only cares about tiny numbers, people use bean counter to mean 'an accountant' or someone who 'pays too much attention to small details'.