pound of cure
1
7.9
- noun
- Informal
:
esfuerzo considerable
- Quite simply, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this is always the best policy when it comes to young athletes.
- worth a pound of cure
Examples
-
The long-held advice that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has, until recently, not been followed.
Academic text (1996) -
The old adage is true; an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, particularly when that cure may not happen.
Blog text (10) -
Have you heard the saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?"
Blog text (12) -
An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.
Blog text (32) -
Someone at one of my presentations suggested that this was a subject where an ounce of prevention was truly worth a pound of cure.
Blog text (2) -
You have heard many times, but it is true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Blog text (17) -
And, since "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," it is actually more expensive and has worse outcomes than if these people had regular medical care.
Blog text (16) -
Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard said: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Blog text (7) -
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is a phrase that has inspired the safety programs of America's best manufacturing facilities.
Blog text (29) -
It's often said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to health care.
Antonyms
How Costly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'pound' (a substantial quantity) and 'cure' (a remedy) make it reasonably inferable that the phrase refers to a large amount of remedy or effort, so part of the meaning is compositional. However, the fuller pragmatic sense — that this large cure results from neglect and echoes the proverb 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' — relies on cultural/proverbial knowledge and is not fully predictable for a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Pound of cure comes from the old saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' The image is simple: a small 'ounce' of care can stop you needing a heavy pound of cure (medicine) later, so it now means 'a lot of work or money to fix a problem'.