Com teu amo não jogues as peras, porque ele escolhe as maduras.

English translation: He who holds the thread holds the ball.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Portuguese term or phrase:	Com teu amo não jogues as peras, porque escolhe as maduras.
English translation:	He who holds the thread holds the ball.
Entered by:	Paula Vaz-Carreiro

16:25 Jul 4, 2003

Portuguese to English translations [Non-PRO]

Portuguese term or phrase: Com teu amo não jogues as peras, porque ele escolhe as maduras.

When playing any kind of game (desconheço como se joga às peras...)with your master (or lord for that matter)do it carefully!

Henrique Magalhaes KudoZ activity Questions: 47 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 1712
Local time: 01:48

He who holds the thread holds the ball.

Explanation:
Este proverbi Inglês aparece no Penguin Dictionary of Proverbs na secção Vantagens de (se ter) Autoridade.

I am assuming you want an equivalent English proverb and this is the best I know of.

Um proverbio alternativo com o mesmo sentido (vantagens de autoridade) é:

~He who has the frying-pan in his hand turns it at will.~

I can't think of (or find) one that is more literally similar and that means the same as our proverb.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-07-04 19:27:54 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Re my disagreeing, I hit return by mistake. What I was going to say is: The second part of the sentence should be: \"he will only take advantage OF you\" not \'from\'.

Selected response from:

Paula Vaz-Carreiro

Grading comment

Thanks, for your help. I found it the closest when compared with others.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +3

He who holds the thread holds the ball.

Paula Vaz-Carreiro

Don't play any game with your master;he'll only take advantage from you.

silviafont

4 +1

Never fight a duel with your gunsmith!

William Stein

3 +1

He looses many a good bit that strives with his betters.

marinagil

It is hard to vie with your master. There is no competing with your master.

Сергей Лузан

Answers

2 hrs confidence:

Don't play any game with your master;he'll only take advantage from you.

Explanation:
If you're seekimg for an English proverb, I'm sorry: I can't think of any. I guess not all proverbs have their equivalent in another language.By the way: you've been translating proverbs for some time now. What is it? You're writing some kind of glossary yourself?

silviafont
Native speaker of:

Spanish

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

He who holds the thread holds the ball.

Paula Vaz-Carreiro
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English
PRO pts in pair: 421

Grading comment

Thanks, for your help. I found it the closest when compared with others.

3 hrs confidence:

It is hard to vie with your master. There is no competing with your master.

Explanation:
My smaller contribution. Just sayings. Hope it helps a little. Good luck, Henrique Magalhaes!

Сергей Лузан
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:48
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in pair: 4

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

He looses many a good bit that strives with his betters.

Explanation:
Trad. lit.: muito perde quem desafia os que lhe são superiores.

OU

He that eats the king's goose shall be choked with the feathers.
=> Quem come o ganso do rei, acaba cheio de penas.

marinagil
Brazil
Local time: 21:48
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

French
PRO pts in pair: 43

11 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Never fight a duel with your gunsmith!

Explanation:
Another option would be "You can't fight City Hall!", which means that you can't win a court case against the administration.

http://www.grandforksgov.com/Reports/Forks_Focus/April2000/a...

You Can't Fight City Hall?

You know the old adage, "You can't fight City Hall." So do we. Webster defines an adage as "a saying that has been popularly accepted as the truth."

William Stein
Costa Rica
Local time: 18:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 127

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Com teu amo não jogues as peras, porque ele escolhe as maduras.

English translation: He who holds the thread holds the ball.

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

Com teu amo não jogues as peras, porque ele escolhe as maduras.

English translation: He who holds the thread holds the ball.

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language