• НЕ ДО ЖИРУ, БЫТЬ БЫ ЖИВУ
[saying; often only the first half of the saying is used]
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⇒ you have to be satisfied with what little you have or is available, since anything more is unattainable:
- - you have to be happy with what you've got (what you can get);
- beggars can't be choosers;
- [in limited contexts] count your blessings.
♦ ...[Строители] станут планировать жилье с расчетом на эти бараки. Раз стоят [бараки], - значит, жить можно, мало ли что некрасиво и неудобно - не до жиру, быть бы живу (Тендряков 1). ...[The builders] would take these barracks into account in planning future housing needs. Since they [the barracks] were already there, they would argue, people might as well stay in them, in spite of the fact that they were ugly and inconvenient: beggars couldn't be choosers (1a).
Большой русско-английский фразеологический словарь. — М.: ACT-ПРЕСС КНИГА. С.И. Лубенская. 2004.