ProverbHuman NatureEnglish origin1546

Beggars can't be choosers

Meaning: When you need help, you accept what's offered.

Origin: John Heywood's 1546 collection gives it as "Beggars should be no choosers." Someone living on charity takes what is offered, not what they would prefer, and the phrase is now used for anyone in too weak a position to bargain.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, and 3 more languages

  • French: Faute de grives, on mange des merles (literally: For lack of thrushes, one eats blackbirds)
  • Spanish: A caballo regalado no se le mira el diente (literally: Don't look at the teeth of a gifted horse)
  • German: In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen (literally: In times of need, the devil eats flies)
  • Portuguese: Quem não tem cão caça com gato (literally: Whoever has no dog hunts with a cat)
  • Russian: Не до жиру, быть бы живу (Ne do zhiru, byt' by zhivu) (literally: Never mind fat, as long as we stay alive)
  • Polish: Na bezrybiu i rak ryba (literally: When there are no fish, a crayfish is a fish)
  • Chinese: 饥不择食 (Jī bù zé shí) (literally: The hungry don't pick their food)
  • Turkish: Dilenciye hıyar vermişler de eğri diye beğenmemiş (literally: They gave the beggar a cucumber and he turned it down for being crooked)

On the map

Making do

The same idea in 15 versions, colored by the picture each one uses. Each country shows the version in its main language.

World map: second best (French, Portuguese, Polish); a gift horse (Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Dutch, Czech, Swedish); hunger isn't fussy (German, Chinese, Hungarian); too poor to pick (English, Turkish, Russian, Korean).

Download the full map with every saying (PNG)See all world maps

6 more languages on the map

  • Spanish (Latin America) A caballo regalado no se le mira el colmillo“Don't check the teeth of a gift horse”Source: El Popular (Peru); OnCuba News; Primera Hora (Puerto Rico); Billiken (Argentina)
  • Dutch Je moet een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken“Don't look a gift horse in the mouth”Source: Onze Taal; Neerlandistiek
  • Czech Darovanému koni na zuby nehleď“Don't look at a gift horse's teeth”Source: Wiktionary; Top.cz list of Czech proverbs
  • Swedish Skåda inte given häst i munnen“Don't look a gift horse in the mouth”Source: Wiktionary; Elon.io Swedish grammar texts
  • Hungarian Éhes ember nem válogat“A hungry man doesn't pick and choose”Source: Wiktionary; ConceptNet
  • Korean 빌어먹는 놈이 콩밥을 마다할까 (Bireomeongneun nomi kongbabeul madahalkka)“Would a beggar turn down rice cooked with beans?”Source: Standard Korean Language Dictionary (via Dahn News); Kyeonggi Ilbo

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