身銭

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 身銭 is read as みぜに and is a noun for money paid personally from one’s own pocket rather than by an organization or another person.
• Basic usage: Use 身銭で補う for covering a shortfall and 身銭を切る to emphasize spending one’s own funds.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Difference from 自費
  • 自費 neutrally states personal payment; 身銭 more vividly emphasizes actually sacrificing one’s own money.
• The idiom 身銭を切る
  • It does not involve the body literally; it means reaching into one’s own pocket and paying personally.