English
Proverb
money doesn't grow on trees
- Wealth cannot be obtained without some effort; hence currency is not always available for a prospective purchase.
1943, William Budington Duryee, Farming for security, page 187:Perhaps it was a Scotsman who, in response to an idea for lavish expenditure, first said "Money doesn't grow on trees".
1975, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, page 39:Today's money worries certainly should make it easier for parents to teach their children that money doesn't grow on trees.
2005, Kathie Rechkemmer, I Want to Teach My Child about Money, page 28:Money doesn't grow on trees — and even the paper for money isn't made of wood!
Synonyms
Translations
Translations
- Arabic: اَلْسَمَاء لَا تُمْطِرُ ذَهَبًا وَلَا فِضَّة (al-samāʔ lā tumṭiru ḏahaban walā fiḍḍa, literally “the sky doesn't rain gold or silver”)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 樹不生錢 / 树不生钱 (shù bù shēng qián)
- Dutch: het geld groeit me niet op de rug (literally “money isn't growing on my back”)
- Estonian: raha ei kasva puu otsas
- Finnish: raha ei kasva puussa (fi)
- French: l'argent ne tombe pas du ciel (fr) (literally “money doesn't fall from the sky”)
- German: das Geld liegt nicht auf der Straße (literally “money is not on the street”)
- Greek: τα λεφτά δεν φυτρώνουν στα δέντρα (ta leftá den fytrónoun sta déntra)
- Hebrew: כסף לא צומח על העצים
- Hungarian: nincs kolbászból fonva a kerítés (hu)
- Icelandic: peningar vaxa ekki á trjám
- Italian: i soldi non crescono sugli alberi
- Japanese: 木にお金は生えない (ki ni o-kane ha haenai)
- Kannada: ಕೈ ಕೆಸರಾದರೆ ಬಾಯ್ ಮೊಸರು (kai kesarādare bāy mosaru)
- Korean: 땅을 파봐라, 돈이 나오나 (ttang'eul pabwara, doni naona, literally “try digging in the earth and see if you can find money”)
- Lithuanian: pinigai ant medžių neauga
- Maltese: il-flus ma jikbrux fis-siġar
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: penger vokser ikke på trær
- Nynorsk: pengar voksar ikkje på tre
- Polish: pieniądze nie spadają z nieba (literally “money doesn't fall from the sky”)
- Portuguese: dinheiro não cresce em árvores
- Romanian: banii nu pică din cer (literally “money doesn't fall from the sky”)
- Russian: де́ньги не расту́т на дере́вьях (dénʹgi ne rastút na derévʹjax), де́ньги с не́ба не па́дают (dénʹgi s néba ne pádajut, literally “money doesn't fall from the sky”)
- Spanish: el dinero no crece en los árboles
- Swedish: pengar växer inte på träd
- Tamil: பணம் மரங்களில் வளராது (paṇam maraṅkaḷil vaḷarātu)
- Thai: เงินไม่ได้เติบโตบนต้นไม้
- Turkish: parasını sokakta bulmamak (literally “not to find one's money on the street”)
- Ukrainian: гроші не ростуть на деревах (hroši ne rostutʹ na derevax)
- Vietnamese: tiền không mọc trên cây
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See also
References
- Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 235.