Selling matches on the corner would denote penury in any language.pen·u·ry(pny-r)
n.
1. Extreme want or poverty; destitution.
2. Extreme dearth; barrenness or insufficiency.
[Middle English penurie, from Latin pnria, want.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin
mark head-just-above-water Bailey
