Polish proverb: Co wolno wojewodzie to nie tobie smordzie

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pawelk1986
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30 Oct 2013, 10:24 am

I do not know whether it is the English equivalent of this proverb.

Thus i finded latin equivalent "quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi"



naturalplastic
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30 Oct 2013, 10:48 am

The Latin phrase is a reference to myth of Europa.

Zeus got the hots for a young lady named Europa,and so he took the form of a bull, and ...um...had sexual relations with Europa as a bull (and incidently conceived the Minator-but thats another story).

Couldnt even guess what the Polish phrase is denoting.
I guessed that the Latin has something to do with cows, and to do with things being allowed, or legal. But I still had to Google it.

Turns out that the Latin phrase means something like "whats allowed for a god is not allowed for an ox".

Basically its saying that (whether its fair, or not) higher status folks have license.

I dont know of an English language equivalent.

"To the victors go the spoils" is about the closest thing I can think of off the bat. Even that isnt quite the same idea.



pawelk1986
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30 Oct 2013, 1:09 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

Basically its saying that (whether its fair, or not) higher status folks have license.



This is precisely the meaning of our Polish proverb.

And that's the most annoying. You are the star of TV, or a member of Parliament, they may even break the law and are not punished for it, but if you are a regular man you are punished with fullest extent of the law.



Asperger96
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30 Oct 2013, 1:16 pm

It's almost the same way here. Congressmen and Celebrities get away with stuff that everyday citizens could never walk away from.



pawelk1986
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30 Oct 2013, 1:42 pm

I feel the same, another version "Co wolno wojewodzie to nie chłopu na zagordzie "

Wojewoda means governor in old Polish Kingdom, chłop = peasant, zagroda = farm.

This proverb means that Governor or Landlord can do thing that ordinary peasant or citizen can't

This pisses me off so much. This pseudo-elite can do more than the average honest citizen.



naturalplastic
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30 Oct 2013, 5:27 pm

"Money talks. B.S. Walks."

Americans might say that after a well connected felon gets off, or gets a light sentence from a judge.

Maybe not an exact fit to what you're looking for. But pretty close.