Yet when experts told me I was unlikely to suffer debilitating psychological fallout if I spared myself motherhood, I felt enormous relief, as if I'd been let off the hook.
Finally, he asked if I could spare a dollar.
FREE RIDE Strangers at the subway often ask if I can spare a swipe of my MetroCard, which I do as a kind of donation.
But, the dentist said, if I could spare an hour he could make a crown and put it in, right then and there.
"I know a guy is windy when he starts a conversation by asking me if I can spare just a minute.
Next, one of the guys from around the back of the castle materialized out of nowhere (it's hard to hear footsteps in the sand), and asked if I could spare a cigarette.
The walk from the tube station to my office generally involves running the gauntlet of "blaggers" from at least three different charities, asking if I can "spare a few minutes for cancer research", or "the homeless", or whatever.
The other day at the subway station, a Frenchman asked me if I could spare him a dime so he could buy a bottle of pop.
By the same token, if I can spare you some injury only by taking precautions costlier than your expected injury, my failure to take these precautions is not irrational, hence, not negligent.
If I can spare you some injury by taking precautions less costly than your expected injury, my failure to take such precautions would be irrational, hence, unreasonable and thus negligent.
