Canada· medium· informal
être né pour un petit pain
“to be born for a small bread roll”
Meaning
To be resigned to a life of modest means
Explanation
A fatalistic shrug about your lot in life: born to get by on scraps, so don't expect more.
Example
Il a refusé la promotion en disant qu'il était né pour un petit pain.
He turned down the promotion, saying he was born to get by on scraps.
Origin
Often traced to a 1912 column in La Presse voiced by the character Père Ladébauche: 'Quand on est né pour un p'tit pain, on n'est pas né pour un gros.' It captured a fatalism that took hold among French Canadians after the Conquest, when business and commerce slipped increasingly out of their hands.
Where
Quebec
Source
More like this
- avoir du bléto have money
- manger de la vache enragéeto endure a long period of hardship
- manger l'argentTo embezzle funds
- avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurreto want two incompatible things at once
- mettre du beurre dans les épinardsto improve one's financial situation
- avoir des croûtes à mangerto still have a lot to learn