Ok, now different people define cheapo-ness very differently. But more often than not, when someone is generous, people don't say he is cheapo. If you buy me a meal, not necessarily an expensive one, I will probably not think you are cheapo. Cos, I don't expect people to buy me meals and anyone generous enough to buy me a meal probably isn't cheapo... So when someone was telling me a story that their friend brought their kids to the zoo and refused to buy a drink for the kids in the hot weather, cos zoo products are expensive (I agree), and how cheapo that parent was, what came to my mind wasn't to "slam" or "criticize" the parent. Cos I understand, food and drinks at tourist spots are unnecessarily expensive. So I thought, hmmm... what would be a win-win solution? For the parent to provide the kid a drink AND still not pay exorbitant ......