Meaning and translation of: 钱米?

Question

I have this sentence here:

乱花钱米叫“泡稍”

Another reference also confirms this saying:

②形容(手头) 宽裕 ▷他的钱～，尽是大手大脚的用。

References for 钱米, though, are very few.

古汉语大词典's entry for 俸恤 says:

旧时官史除俸禄外，其亲属所受之钱米，称俸恤

ABC defines it as:

payment and pension

Grand Ricci says

traitement et allocations

Could we just combine the English and the French to define 钱米 as payment and allocations or, more simply, money and food?

Answer 1

more simply, money and food?

Basically, yes. It is a common practice in Chinese or English to use a couple of representative items to form a general term for a single concept.

'钱米' (coins and rice) can be used as a general term for 'wealth / resources'

'旧时官史除俸禄外，其亲属所受之 钱米，称俸恤'

• 钱米 (coins and rice) refers to consumables resources like money and food
• 俸恤 (allocations) is a portion of resource assigned to particular recipient.

'钱米' (coins and rice) can also be used as a general term for 'wealth / consumables resources', as in '乱花 钱米 叫“泡稍”'

Similarly, '鱼米' (fish and rice) is a general term for 'natural food resources' in the phrase '鱼米之乡'(land of plenty) ; '刀剑'(knife and sword) refers to all 'weapons' in '刀剑没眼'(weapons have no eyes)

• In old time war campaigns, 钱粮 (coins and grain) is a common term for 'resources' like soldiers' salary, food and horse feed.

"打仗就是打钱粮 "