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generous
be just before you're generous
Fulfill your duties before engaging in fun activities. This phrase is often used to refer to financial matters. Put some of your paycheck in savings right away—be just before you're generous. You need to clean your room before you go out with your friends. Be just before you're generous.
Be just before you're generous.
Prov. Do what you ought to do before you do things that you want to do; pay your debts before you give money away. Jill: It's payday! I can't wait to go out and buy my niece that nice toy train set for her birthday. Jane: But, Jill, we have bills to pay. Be just before you're generous.
generous to a fault
Cliché too generous; overly generous. My favorite uncle is generous to a fault. Sally—always generous to a fault—gave away her lunch to a homeless man.
to a fault
more than is necessary
She was generous to a fault, taking me out to dinner and buying me expensive gifts. Usage notes: used after an adjective that describes one of someone's good characteristics
to a fault
if someone is generous or has another good quality to a fault, they are very generous or have more of that good quality than other people Nigel was generous to a fault, taking me out to dinner and buying me flowers and chocolates.
to a fault
Excessively, extremely, as in He was generous to a fault. This phrase, always qualifying an adjective, has been so used since the mid-1700s. Indeed, Oliver Goldsmith had this precise usage in The Life of Richard Nash (1762).
to a fault
To an excessive degree: generous to a fault.