land poor | Idiomator

Meaning: (US,idiomatic)In a condition ofpovertyas a result of inability to meettaxpayments or otherfinancialrequirements for one's land holdings.1900,Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter XV, inThe House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.:Houghton, Mifflin and Company[…],→OCLC:"I was offered a thousand acres, the other day, at twenty-five cents an acre," remarked the doctor. "The owner is soland-poorthat he can't pay the taxes."1913,Jack London, chapter 18, inThe Valley of the Moon:[A]ll the rest of the surrounding land was owned by a Frenchman. . . . He was a land-miser. With no business capacity, old and opinionated, he wasland poor, and it was an open question which would arrive first, his death or bankruptcy.1924,Ambrose Elliott Gonzales, "The Quest of the Land" inThe Captain: Stories of the Black Border(1972 reprint edition by Ayer Publishing),→ISBN,p. 111:Altho' most of the planters were "land poor" and burdened by the heavy taxes of "Reconstruction," and altho' many Negroes, having abandoned hope of "forty acres and a mule" from the Federal Government, were now ready to buy ten acres and an ox, the sale of land to Negroes was generally reprobated.2011, Irene Brand, chapter9, inSong of her Heart,→ISBN:Most ranchers areland poor—lots of land, but not much money.

Examples:

EN: The Musgraves are land poor.
ES: Los Musgrave son realmente pobres.
EN: That could afford such a sanatorium Because I was land poor.
ES: No puedo pagar tal sanatorio porque no tengo tierras.
EN: Quicker than you can think about it, we'll be going all the way from land poor to money rich.
ES: Antes de que te des cuenta, habremos saltado de pobretones a ricos.

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