- English translation
So the man who can't walk went off on an outing? He's paying for it himself.
- Literal wording
A cripple went out to take a stroll; he said: with his own money.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying answers anyone who finds another person's choice of pleasure surprising or unsuitable. Its humor rests on a bystander assuming that an outing is unexpected for someone unable to walk, an assumption the proverb rebuts rather than endorses. If a person pays their own way, onlookers have no grounds to complain.
More broadly, it defends personal freedom in spending: what someone does with their own money is their own business. The final reply works as a firm, slightly teasing retort that cuts criticism short, since the person asked nothing of anyone and spent only what was theirs.
- When it is used
Use it to rebut someone who questions another person's indulgence, or to defend your own spending against busybodies. The opening word is a blunt, dated term for a person unable to walk, so render it with care; the closing 'with his own money' carries the point.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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