I don't think the woman really loves the millionaire, it's just cupboard love.

My comments:

This phrase was inspired from petting cats. The cupboard is what contains the cat’s food. Pet owners see that sometimes their cat will give them their cupboard as a show of love (affection). This act, as the owners notice, is really intended for getting more food put into their cupboard.

The expression is recorded from the mid 18th century, but there is a mid-17th century example of ‘all for the love of a cupboard’, in which the cupboard represents the food it contains (Oxford Dictionary of Phrases Fable).

Cupboard love, hence, is love motivated by a desire for reward. In the above example, the woman’s “cupboard love” suggests that she loves the millionaire’s money, but perhaps not the man himself.

That’s the trouble some people have, you know, with having too much money – It puts true love in jeopardy.

Anyways, years ago, I heard this, or something like this, from the BBC:

In three months, they got married. He was 65 and rich. She was young and pretty. He gives her a house in the country. She gives him ten years to live.

Related stories:

No great shakes

Warts and all

Catch -22 situation

Pull-up trey

I'm sold

Flip-flop

Sit on its hands

Casing the joint

Free rein

Bear the brunt of

Cross one’s path

Tribute projects

Off the beaten track

At the forefront of

Seat warmer

The rule of the jungle

On-the-go

On the fence

Wild guess

In the high teens

Touch up

Unforced error

Catch a break

City slicker

Political correctness

Gee up

Big mind

Blanket statement

Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA

Pick one's brains

A good eye

Thank one's stars for

Real money

Nodding acquaintance

Flip out over nothing

Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind

Vocal proponent

Growing pains

Fleeting acquaintance

All-weather friend

Lead the pack

Fish or cut bait

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Right down the middle

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現行法律法規(guī)的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.