Please translate and post as comments.
Beggars must not be choosers.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Beggars must not be choosers.
Posted by toan at 16.9.09
labels: *learnbytranslating, quotesnproverbs
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Posted by toan at 16.9.09
labels: *learnbytranslating, quotesnproverbs
3 Comments:
The usual saying is, "Beggars can't be choosers," meaning, of course, that beggars must take what they can get. It is usually applied figuratively to someone who is not in a position, for one reason or another, to dictate what he what will accept from another party. If I am hungry enough to ask you for food, I shouldn't try to tell you how I like it prepared. If I don't have a car and you give me a ride, I can't ask you to drive faster. Well, I can, but beggars can't be choosers.
The expression is both very common and very old. It appears in John Heywood's Proverbs and Epigrams (1562 ed.) as "Beggers should be no choosers." The word "beggar" (or begger) is as old as modern English, and the sight of people reduced to beggary is a constant reminder of how little stands between us and that condition. So it is no surprise that proverbs and sayings about beggars have been rather common, and have remained so. Another very common saying is "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
That's the meaning I've searched on Answer.com. About vietnamese sentence, maybe it is: "Đói ăn gì cũng ngon"
Thank Tu for your explanation about this proverb. So, I can show that its Vietnamese equivalence is " Ăn mày đòi xôi gấc". Another Vietnamese proverb that has the same meaning is "Đũa mốc chòi mâm son" ^^
NOT "Ăn mày đòi xôi gấc."
BUT "Ăn mày chớ đòi xôi gấc."
"Đũa mốc chòi mâm son" whose better version is "Đũa mốc lại đòi chòi mâm son") has a different meaning that is "Gối rơm theo phận gối rơm, có đâu dưới thấp lại chồm lên cao."
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