不值得放在心上
這一支最貼近破布本身：東西沒有價值，所以不值得花時間。
adjective · C1
Not important or valuable enough to be worth anyone's time or attention.
微不足道的
核心畫面
One way to hold paltry: a scrap of old cloth. The evidence traces it to Middle Low German paltrig, ragged and worthless, from palte, a rag. A rag is worth nothing and is not worth a second look, and that one picture covers both uses - a thing too slight to matter, and an amount too small to be any use. In both, the speaker is not describing ; the complaint is built into the word.
「paltry」可以想成一塊破布。字源資料說它來自中古低地德語 paltrig（破爛、不值錢），底下的 palte …更多收起
「paltry」可以想成一塊破布。字源資料說它來自中古低地德語 paltrig（破爛、不值錢），底下的 palte 就是「碎布」。破布不值錢，也不值得多看一眼——這一張圖同時蓋住兩個用法：一個是事情小到不值得花心思，一個是數目小到拿在手上也沒用。不管哪一個，說話的人都不是在中性描述，而是帶著「這太寒酸了」的口氣。From the word’s history
From Middle Low German paltrig, meaning ragged or worthless, built on palte, a rag or shred of cloth. The ultimate origin is uncertain in the source itself, so the rag is as far back as this goes.
來自中古低地德語 paltrig（破爛、不值錢），底下是 palte「碎布、破布」。資料本身說更早的來源並不確定，所以這裡就停在「破布」這張圖。
Wiktionary entry for 'paltry' (adjective), etymology_text supplied in the evidence packet: 'From Middle Low German paltrig (ragged, rubbishy, worthless), from palter, palte (cloth, rag, shred) ... Of uncertain ultimate origin.'
Two branches
少得可憐的數量
把「不值錢」放到數字上，就變成「小到沒用」，而且小得不合理。
adjective · C1
Used about an amount — usually an amount of money — that is so small it is almost no use, especially when it is much smaller than it should be.
少得可憐的