Origin Dictionary / OD-003
Broke
Payday is next week. The electricity bill is not.
01Dictionary Meaning
Broke is an informal word for having little or no money available, especially for current expenses. It does not identify one fixed financial condition.
02What People Think
"Someone must have been careless."
03What’s Underneath
A late wage payment, an unaffordable rent increase and an emptied shopping cart can all end with the same sentence: "I'm broke."
But a timing gap, an income shortfall and overspending are different problems. A person may own something valuable and still have no cash today. Another may have no assets or reliable income to fall back on.
The word compresses those differences. Fees and expensive borrowing can make the shortage last longer than the original problem.
04The Game
Is money missing temporarily, or do ordinary costs consistently exceed what comes in? The answer changes what the shortage requires.
05One Line
"I'm broke" describes a shortage. It does not explain its cause.
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