# All Slavic languages: You shouldn't be too proud to do it



## Encolpius

Hello, there is an idiom of German origin in *Slovak *and *Polish*, Czechs do not know that, which goes: "koruna ti z hlavy nespadne", "korona ci z głowy nie spadnie" [the crown won't fall off your head] which means *it wouldn't hurt you* (...if you do something unpleasant, etc.). 
Do you know that idiom? 
I have found some Russian websites with that sentence, but I am unsure, maybe Ukranians know it (?) and how about the South Slavic languages? 
Thanks.


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## Anicetus

The same idiom is used in BCS: _neće ti pasti kruna s glave_ (not necessarily _ti_, it can refer to any person). However, I wouldn't say "it wouldn't hurt you" is an entirely accurate English equivalent, its meaning is more like "it won't hurt your dignity" or "you shouldn't be too proud to do it" -- in my opinion, there's usually an implication of pride.


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## Encolpius

Anicetus said:


> The same idiom is used in BCS: _neće ti pasti kruna s glave_ (not necessarily _ti_, it can refer to any person). However, I wouldn't say "it wouldn't hurt you" is an entirely accurate English equivalent, its meaning is more like "it won't hurt your dignity" or "you shouldn't be too proud to do it" -- in my opinion, there's usually an implication of pride.



Wow, thanks, phantastic answer!! I agree it is difficult to translate it into English, but it means what you wrote.


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## swintok

The phrase is used in Ukrainian as well:  корона (тобі) з голови не впаде.

There are several ways the phrase could be translated into English depending on the context and region, but I completely agree with Anicetus that there's usually some implication of pride.


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## TriglavNationalPark

It's more or less the same in Slovenian: *Ne bo ti padla krona z glave.*


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## Encolpius

Since no Russian answer is here I assume it is unknown in the Russian language.


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## Thomas1

Encolpius said:


> Hello, there is an idiom of German origin in *Slovak *and *Polish*, Czechs do not know that, which goes: "koruna ti z hlavy nespadne", "korona ci z głowy nie spadnie" [the crown won't fall off your head] which means *it wouldn't hurt you* (...if you do something unpleasant, etc.).
> Do you know that idiom?
> I have found some Russian websites with that sentence, but I am unsure, maybe Ukranians know it (?) and how about the South Slavic languages?
> Thanks.


Would you mind sheding some more light on its origin and, possibly, the original, Encolpius? 

PS: the English "It won't hurt you... " can be a good equivalent of the Polish phrase too, in my humble opinion. They are both used ironically.


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## Encolpius

Hello Thomas, do you think it does not exist in Polish?


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## Thomas1

What doesn't exist in Polish?  You mentioned the expression "korona ci z głowy nie spadnie" comes from German. I asked if you knew something more about its origin in German (for example how and when it came into existence), and if you knew the exact German phrase. Since you said the phrase had come from German, I assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that you might have read more about it.


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## amazingenough

well, don`t hurry, slow down  probably the fact that nobody from Russia showed up might have confused you. This idiom sounds familiar to me. In Russian it would be *корона с головы не упадёт (corona s golovy ne upadet - in Latin transcription) *with the same meaning concerning proud and vanity. You can type it in google and you will have over 7 000 000 responses, although it is not daily used idiom, of course.


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## Encolpius

Thomas1 said:


> What doesn't exist in Polish?  You mentioned the expression "korona ci z głowy nie spadnie" comes from German. I asked if you knew something more about its origin in German (for example how and when it came into existence), and if you knew the exact German phrase. Since you said the phrase had come from German, I assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that you might have read more about it.



No, I do not know much about its origin....


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## jasio

Are you sure about German origin of this idiom in the first place? I made a quick search and in a Polish-German idiom dictionary (http://megaslownik.pl/slownik/polsko_niemiecki/10320,korona+ci+z+głowy+nie+spadnie!) I found "_dir fällt keine Perle aus der Krone_", which taken literary is something different. 

BTW - as for English translation, you may all be right, I suppose. The idiom itself is an ironic criticism of someone's self-pride or just an unwillingness to do something ('dignity' would be an exaggeration, perhaps), but in a similar situation I would probably say in English something like "don't be afraid, it won't hurt you".


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## WillyAbs

I have never heard *корона с головы не упадёт. *I can't imagine the meaning.


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## ilocas2

Encolpius said:


> Hello, there is an idiom of German origin in *Slovak *and *Polish*, Czechs do not know that, which goes: "koruna ti z hlavy nespadne", "korona ci z głowy nie spadnie" [the crown won't fall off your head] which means *it wouldn't hurt you* (...if you do something unpleasant, etc.).
> Do you know that idiom?
> I have found some Russian websites with that sentence, but I am unsure, maybe Ukranians know it (?) and how about the South Slavic languages?
> Thanks.



I asked my grandmother and she knows this idiom, she also knows that idiom "je to jeden pes".


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## GyörgyMS

jasio said:


> Are you sure about German origin of this idiom in the first place? I made a quick search and in a Polish-German idiom dictionary (http://megaslownik.pl/slownik/polsko_niemiecki/10320,korona+ci+z+głowy+nie+spadnie!) I found "_dir fällt keine Perle aus der Krone_", which taken literary is something different.



As a native speaker of German I'm not familiar with the idiom above. But 'google' tells me it does exist.

But I know a very similiar one that goes: "sich einen Zacken aus der Krone brechen" (to lose one's face).


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## Enquiring Mind

> Czechs do not know that



Strangely enough, we were discussing how to say "it wouldn't do him any harm to" or "it wouldn't hurt him to" (in this context. that it wouldn't be beneath his pride) just a couple of weeks ago, and a Czech native speaker suggested this very phrase. It's also included in this diploma thesis entitled "A Comparative Study of English and Czech Idioms" (Veronika Vlčková, 2013), so I think it's fair to say it is "known" in Czech as a figure of speech, though I don't recall hearing or reading it, and admittedly there aren't many hits on the search engines.


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## Encolpius

Hello EM, yes, it is an interesting topic to find out when to call a phrase unknown in a language....there are unfortunately not many participants in WR to make any precise conclusion, I think if a big dictionary does not include a phrase it is rather unknown now in standard language.....and it's on you whose comment you trust..there might be regional and age difference which you cannot find out in WR either.....but that's a problem all over the WR....Enc.


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## ahvalj

I can confirm that I have never heard this idiom in Russian.


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