To make ends meet

Question

Hi everybody! I need your help. I know "to make ends meet" is an idiomatic expression meaning to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need. ("llegar a fin de mes" in Spanish)

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My question is: does it have a more literal use, not related to money? Something related to beginning and end? For instance, suppose you have a rope and you need to put both ends together...

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Hope you understand what I mean...

• I googled it, Benz and it doesn't seem to have a literal meaning. I tried using rope and pipes and always got a money definition back. - sanlee Feb 13, 2011
• Me too Sanlee!! Pero nadie mejor que un native speaker para sacarme la duda! - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 1

Surprisingly, "make the two ends meet" is used (by foreigners? British?) to mean "scrape by financially."

But here is a specialized search query in Google I made to try to weed out all scrape-by-financially usages of the phrase "make the two ends meet."

Mind you, "make the two ends meet" is not commonly used like simply "make ends meet" for scraping by financially, but it does show that once we get specific about the ends (ends of what?), the phrase can be and is used literally. In fact, many results in my query on the first page of results are instructions about making things.

• Sorry I can't give you more context. I know how important it is. I understand what you mean. It's just sth like an old navy bag with a rope as a handle which is broken. And it says "to make the ends meet". - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• But it's figurative, like a metaphor related to birth and death. It might be bad English, I don't know - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• Oh, well, that sounds like a play on words. Literally make the ends meet to fix the broken handle, and then a figurative meaning...maybe some commentary on poverty, or who knows what. - webdunce Feb 13, 2011
• Thanks anyway... you helped me a lot today!!!! Thanks, thanks, thanks! - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 2

Outside the context of money and bills, most native english speakers would not use the expression "make ends meet" in another contex (outside finances). An equivalent expression in other contexts involving shortage or barely enough is usually "we'll have to make do" or "we'll just have to make do with what we have."

Answer 3

Yo siempre la he escuchado en un contexto financiero. Es como hacer de tripas corazón o estirar el dinero al máximo.

• Gracias por tu respuesta! Y si uno quiere referirse a unir extremos? cómo lo expresarías? - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• Si te refieres a atar cabos, yo diria "Put two and two together". ¿Ese es el contexto al que te refieres? - gone Feb 13, 2011
• Posiblemente. Has visto alguna vez la frase "to make ends meet" fuera de un contexto financiero? Como la unión del nacimiento y la muerte en un contexto religioso - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• A decir verdad, no. Para eso he escuchado "From beginning to end", pero esa frase se aplica a muchos contextos. Siento no poder serte más útil. - gone Feb 13, 2011
• Has sido de mucha ayuda!! Mil gracias!! - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 4

Hi Benz

Likewise I have always heard of this expression in relation to money, ie not making ends meet means not having enough money.

• Thanks Eddy! No literal meaning? - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• There may be but I have not heard of one. - Eddy Feb 13, 2011
• For example, if a surgeon is trying to re-attach a leg he wouldn't say "I'm having trouble making the ends meet", hehe. - Eddy Feb 13, 2011
• That's exactly what I wanted to know EDdy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love youuuuuuu - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 5

Nope, I have never heard that way. You could say put the ends together

• Thanks for your answer. Put ends together sounds good :) - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 6

You asked for confirmation from a native English speaker. My English is American English but colored by having long had much to do with people in other English-speaking countries. May I confirm that if one were going to speak literally about making two ends of a rope - or even a tunnel beneath the English channel -- meet, one would automatically and quite naturally choose something besides that particular expression.

• Thanks Janice. I really appreciate your answer. I guess the idiom is so much used we don't think about a literal meaning. It does make sense to me in those particular situations you mentioned but I'm not an English native so... I need you all!!! :) - Benz Feb 13, 2011

Answer 7

To be literal, it must be specific. At the very least, the will need to be inserted before ends, but if that is all that is done, then context must make clear the answer to the question, "The ends of what?"

Your kit comes with a short rope, which must be made into a loop by joining the ends together. To make the ends meet, {insert whatever must be done}...

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And it would be more likely we would be even more specific...

Your kit comes with a short rope. To make the two ends of the rope meet, {insert whatever must be done}...

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And, we would likely avoid the whole problem...like so...

You kit comes with a short rope. You will need to join the two ends of the rope together using the the piece of tape as shown in the diagram. This will form a loop, which will be used later.

• And, yes, we would avoid using the idiom in literal contexts. Especially in the exact manner as stated (The word ends is not specific, not having the in front). - webdunce Feb 13, 2011
• Thanks so much webdunce!! Your examples were very clear. It IS a rope actually, a short rope... to make the ends meet. Thanks a ton! - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• Benz, why not show us how you end up saying it (with some surrounding context), and we can make sure it sounds right...if you like. - webdunce Feb 13, 2011

Answer 8

I got this via Google

It came from an impoverished sausage maker who, due to the high cost of meat, had to start using vegetable proteins in half his product because he was having a difficult time making both ends meat.

Notice the meat and not meet.

Another expression is "not enough to go around" which if used about money would mean the same.

This could be literal / There is not enough string to go around the parcel ( the ends won't meet )

Answer 9

I agree with what has already been said by others, that because of its more idiomatic usage, some other expression would be the more natural choice.

For example, depending on the context, I would be more inclined to use an alternative such as one of the following:

In the context of linkage

►Join the two ends of the rope together.
►Connect the two ends of the pipe.
►Link together both ends of the rope.

In the context of abutment

►Lay the two ends of the rope next to one another until they are just touching.
►Lay the two pipes out so that the ends just meet.
►Position the two pipes end to end.
►Place the end of each rope in contact with one another.

Of course, there are probably numerous other ways of stating this, but I doubt that many people would be likely to use the specific expression "make ends meet" with this specific meaning in mind. One thing that probably precludes this expression from being used in this way is the fact that (as far as I can tell) the word "pipe" or "rope" in such a context would likely always be preceded by some type of specifier (such as a definite article).

Answer 10

Just to make it a little more clear, a native speaker is less likely to say "make ends meet" in other than its set phrase than they would be to use "have a happy birthday" to wish a woman well who was about to give birth.

Answer 11

I found this photo from a photography contest. Guess what? the photo is called "Make the ends meet"

Gracias a todos!!! Muchas gracias por tomarse el tiempo para contestar mi pregunta!

• I can't paste the image here. it's worth seeing it - Benz Feb 13, 2011
• Fixed link (that had spaces in it) by shortening it using tinyurl.com service. - webdunce Feb 13, 2011
• Thanks!!! - Benz Feb 13, 2011