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  • Welcome to twominenglish.com. Teaching you English through two-minute lessons.

  • In this lesson you will learn about the idiom 'cash cow' and how to use it in your conversations.

  • Sally, do you know what the idiom 'cash cow' means?

  • Yes Jim, a cash cow is a source of easy and continuous profit.

  • Correct. A 'cash cow' may be a product, a business or an organization which needs a very small amount of maintenance cost to run,

  • compared to the huge profit or income it generates.

  • For example, Windows is the cash cow that made Microsoft a huge company.

  • You are right, Sally. Microsoft is making a huge amount of money from the Windows product; it's their cash cow.

  • A cash cow may be anything which is a dependable source of income with its large and steady cash flow.

  • Here's another example: Mr. Smith's barren piece of land became his cash cow after oil was discovered there.

  • Thank you Sally. Let's listen to some conversations now.

  • Suzanne told me that the new product would become a cash cow.

  • Sure, it's already taking off in the market.

  • Mr. Brown's ideas are brilliant! He should have been made the CEO years ago.

  • Right! His new idea is the company's new cash cow.

  • The government approved mining in Sparrow Island.

  • That's a good decision for some people. It'll prove to be a cash cow soon for the people who own the land.

  • I doubt that! There's a strong protest against it going on.

  • Yeah, they fear that the mining will destroy the ecosystem.

  • The next Olympics will cost a lot of money to organize.

  • Yeah, but it will be a cash cow for the city that hosts them.

  • I'm not so sure. I've heard they cost more to host than they bring in.

  • Well, at least it will be a cash cow for the merchants in that area.

  • Yeah! For them it'll be a real boon!

  • Windows is the cash cow that made Microsoft a huge company.

  • Suzanne told me that the new product would become a cash cow.

  • His new idea is the company's new cash cow.

  • It'll prove to be a cash cow soon for the people who own the land.

  • Yeah, but it will be a cash cow for the city that hosts them.

  • Well, at least it will be a cash cow for the merchants in that area.

Welcome to twominenglish.com. Teaching you English through two-minute lessons.

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