Ante el vicio de pedir, está la virtud de no dar

English translation: He who pays the piper, calls the tune

09:32 Apr 11, 2007
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Spanish term or phrase: Ante el vicio de pedir, está la virtud de no dar
Hello. I have been searching for more than an hour and can't find how to say

"Ante el vicio de pedir, está la virtud de no dar"

Thanks for your help.

Carolina
Maria Otero
Spain
Local time: 00:45
English translation:He who pays the piper, calls the tune
Explanation:
It's not an exact translation of the Spanish expression, but I think it conveys the meaning behind the use of the expression in the Spanish text....or rather, it fits to use this well-known English expression in this context.
Selected response from:

Chanda Danley
Spain
Local time: 00:45
Grading comment
Chanda, thxs
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1You can always say no
Noni Gilbert Riley
4 +1He who pays the piper, calls the tune
Chanda Danley
4 +1in face of askers, givers can (have the right to) refuse
patricia scott
4The answer to asking/pleading/begging is to {say "no"}/refuse
Carol Gullidge
4Not to give in to beggars/begging is a virtue
Edward Tully
4He that would have the fruit must climb the tree
ValHeiLin
4To confront the vice of begging/asking, there is the virtue of not giving
Marcelo Silveyra


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
The answer to asking/pleading/begging is to {say "no"}/refuse


Explanation:
I'm assuming we're talking about whining children here, although refusing to give has also been argued as the best solution to street begging, so this could work for either case.

This loses the nice antithesis if vicio/virtud, but this is partially compensated with the idea of "asking/refusing"

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:45
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 138
Notes to answerer
Asker: The text has nothing to do with begging. It's an article that discuss free software (open source) and it says that people want everything for free. So the article goes like this: Pide, pero eso no quiere decir que al pedir se consiga. Eso sí, por pedir, que no quede. "Ante el vicio de pedir, está la virtud de no dar"

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28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
You can always say no


Explanation:
This is the one that occurs to me. Plenty of google hits in a variety of register situations.

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-04-11 10:49:06 GMT)
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"If you don´t ask, you won´t get" may come in handy earlier in the text too!

Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 00:45
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gacela20
5 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Not to give in to beggars/begging is a virtue


Explanation:
another option!

Edward Tully
Local time: 00:45
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 90
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
He who pays the piper, calls the tune


Explanation:
It's not an exact translation of the Spanish expression, but I think it conveys the meaning behind the use of the expression in the Spanish text....or rather, it fits to use this well-known English expression in this context.


    Reference: http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsh.htm#He%2...
Chanda Danley
Spain
Local time: 00:45
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Chanda, thxs

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marcelo Silveyra: I actually think this is the best option provided. It's actual English and very idiomatic. Love it!
15 hrs
  -> thanks so much Marcelo!
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
He that would have the fruit must climb the tree


Explanation:
El que algo quiere, algo le cuesta...

ValHeiLin
United States
Local time: 19:45
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
in face of askers, givers can (have the right to) refuse


Explanation:
yet another option

patricia scott
Spain
Local time: 00:45
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Swatchka: Very good :))
33 mins
  -> Thanks again Swatchka!
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
To confront the vice of begging/asking, there is the virtue of not giving


Explanation:
This is a literal (well, almost) translation that I think makes sense...I'd wait a bit and see if anyone comes up with an idiom in Engish for this (I can't come up with any right now)

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Note added at 59 mins (2007-04-11 10:31:47 GMT)
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A quick option for your open-source freeware context:

When there is too much asking, there is always the possibility of not giving.

This definitely fits better than my previous non-context option :)

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Note added at 17 hrs (2007-04-12 03:30:48 GMT)
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Like I said below, I think that, although it would require a bit of text-reworking, Chanda's option is the most idiomatic. Idiomatic? Forget that. I think it's pretty brilliant, and it's the closest in register to the "vicio/virtud" aspect.

Marcelo Silveyra
United States
Local time: 16:45
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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