🤖 Literally, in English
“As long as there's a neck, a yoke will be found for it.”
Аби шия була, а ярмо знайдеться. Aby shyia bula, a yarmo znaydetsia
🤨 What does it ACTUALLY mean? →
🇬🇧 What you'd actually say
“If you're willing, someone will always find work for you.”
also: “There's always more work waiting.” · “Say yes once and they'll never stop asking.”
- 📖 Meaning
- If you are willing to carry a burden, someone will always supply one.
- 💡 Why it's funny
- The literal version is genuinely dark, and the calm tone in which it is usually delivered makes it darker.
- 🧭 Closest English idiom
- No direct English equivalent. English has 'give them an inch and they'll take a mile', but that is about people exploiting permission. This one is bleaker: it says the burden exists first and simply waits for a willing neck. No English idiom carries that.
- 📝 Explanation
- Weary and slightly bitter. Said by the person in the office who gets every extra task.
- 🏛 Cultural context
- The yoke is the wooden frame put on oxen to pull a plough — the standard rural image of a burden that is placed on you, not chosen.
🧠 Learn
- burden (noun) — a heavy duty or responsibility — тягар “The burden fell on her.”
- take on (phrase) — to accept extra work — брати на себе “Don't take on more than you can handle.”
🗣 In context
Знову мені додали задач. Аби шия була, а ярмо знайдеться.
They've given me more tasks again. If you're willing, someone will always find work for you.
🎧 Hear the contrast
dontpushthehorses.xyz
