Learn English – English idiom for ‘Fry the fish using fish’s own oil’

idiom-requests

Please help me to find out the appropriate English idiom for Fry the fish using fish's own oil. This is a Bengali proverb/idiom whose word meaning 'When you are frying some sea fish, initially cook use some oil for frying but within few minute fish emit it's own body oil, and the remaining frying is done by this oil. Literally, this means Somebody has invested some amount of money in some particular purpose but get some extra benefit, as an add-on that save his/her initial investments. Please help me. If I'm not clarify well please ask me. Thanks!

Best Answer

You might want a to use an actual, well-known economics term:

  • R.O.I: "Return On Investment"

Or

  • "Pays for itself"

You would then explain how the subject does this.

Or you might want

  • "you can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs"

suggesting that a price MUST be paid to get the intended benefit.

or

  • "Killer app", short for "killer application"

which refers to the fact that the very first spreadsheet program for a personal computer allowed accountants|book keepers to justify the entire cost of purchasing an entire expensive PC system because it would divide their workload by a factor of 10 or more. If the computer ONLY ran a spreadsheet, it was worth the price to them. But a computer also does much, much more, like print layout for documents, art, e-Mail, etc..

You might want:

  • "Get the ball rolling"

Which conjures the image of giving a boulder a tiny initial push to start it rolling down a hill, after which gravity will take over & keep it rolling.

Related Topic