- English translation
If you had to beg for it with your own mouth, what is left to eat it with?
- Literal wording
That which is begged for with the mouth, with what is it eaten?
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb rebukes requesting a gift. It presents a gift as something that ought to come from the giver's own initiative, rather than something pressed for by the recipient.
Its questioning form delivers the rebuke indirectly: the mouth that did the begging is pictured as already spent, so whatever was obtained that way can no longer be enjoyed.
- When it is used
Aimed at someone who asks outright for a present, the saying carries a reproach: it casts a solicited gift as spoiled by the very act of asking and treats a gift as something expected to arrive unprompted from the giver.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: If you had to beg for it with your own mouth, what is left to eat it with?