robbed Peter to pay Paul
Borrowed from one
Robbed Peter to pay Paul describes solving one problem by creating another—typically paying off one debt by incurring a new one.
The phrase suggests a futile shuffling of resources rather than genuine progress: Moving money between credit cards is just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The biblical names give it a proverbial ring, though its exact origin is unclear.
- loanBorrowed money repaid later
- debtMoney owed another
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- consequencesResults of actions taken
- budgetingAllocating funds systematically
false economy · insolvency · penny wise and pound foolish · creative accounting · fairness · misallocation · redistribution · zero-sum · short-sightedness · stopgap · shell game · smoke and mirrors · house of cards · credit · overdraft · opportunism · passing the buck · juggling act