quien mucho se agacha, el trasero enseña

English translation: If you act like a doormat, people will walk all over you

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:quien mucho se agacha, el trasero enseña
English translation:If you act like a doormat, people will walk all over you
Entered by: María Teresa Taylor Oliver

15:03 Jul 19, 2019
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Slang / Guatemalan Spanish
Spanish term or phrase: quien mucho se agacha, el trasero enseña
También, de forma más vulgar: "Quien mucho se agacha, el culo enseña" o "A quien mucho se agacha, el culo se le ve".

I understand is something to do with servility or obsequiousness or submissiveness, but I'd like to find, if possible, an English equivalent that is also somewhat of a "refrán" or popular saying... Or in any case, how would you translate this?

Oh, BTW, it's in this editorial article: https://lahora.gt/gobierno-mentiroso/

"Bien se dice que quien mucho se agacha el trasero enseña y eso le pasó a Morales quien de ponerse de alfombra de Trump terminó convertido en trapeador. "

Thanks!
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Panama
Local time: 08:18
If you act like a doormat, people will walk all over you
Explanation:
Similar idea that might work here.
Other variations:
If you act like a doormat people will wipe their feet on you
If you act like a doormat, people will use you like one
Though the rest of the sentence would need to be adapted.

He offered himself as a doormat to Trump and ended up getting walked all over

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-07-19 16:42:28 GMT)
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The obvious butt-kissing one that springs to mind is a bit too crude. What I thought of was this:
"As the saying goes, if you act like a doormat, people will use you like one, and this is what happened to Morales: he offered himself as a doormat to Trump and ended up getting walked all over."

Maybe there will be more suggestions.

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Note added at 4 days (2019-07-23 15:06:14 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to be of help, María Teresa. It was an interesting question, but as you say, shame about the situation.
Selected response from:

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 14:18
Grading comment
Thank you so much, Marie and Charles! Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Even if I had to turn in my doc, it doesn't matter, I'm always "collecting" variants for my glossaries. And, sadly, this situation with the presidents of both Guatemala and the US is a hot one right now, so I've had to use some sort of "doormat" (or sycophant or butt-kisser or whatever) analogy on more than one occasion...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3If you act like a doormat, people will walk all over you
Marie Wilson
3 +2if you bend over too far, you'll get kicked in the butt
Charles Davis


  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
if you bend over too far, you'll get kicked in the butt


Explanation:
Or perhaps, a bit longer, you're asking to be kicked in the butt or you're asking for a kick in the butt. OK, it's not exactly a proverb or saying, but it enables you to use a similar metaphor to the original, in a variant that seems to me to fit the situation: getting kicked in the butt is, after all, what people who kowtow (bend over) to Trump get for their pains. It's crude, but not too crude: not as crude as the Spanish expression, I'd say. In particular, if you'd rather not use the doormat metaphor in both halves of the sentence this is a way of avoiding it. I don't think it matters if you do, but perhaps it takes a little of the vigour out of hte sentence.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2019-07-19 19:33:30 GMT)
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If you wanted to tone it down, you could use "backside" or "behind" instead of "butt". In British English we'd say "kicked/a kick up the backside"; I'm not sure whether Americans would say that.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 64

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marie Wilson: A good one, though seems like we were both too late due to deadlines, shame. //Of course, and useful for future reference anyway :-)
30 mins
  -> Thanks, Marie! Yes, it is a shame. Yours is spot on, but I read María Teresa's note inviting other ideas and thought "why not?".

agree  JohnMcDove
12 days
  -> Thanks, John :-) Te voy a dar un descuento por cantidad...
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
If you act like a doormat, people will walk all over you


Explanation:
Similar idea that might work here.
Other variations:
If you act like a doormat people will wipe their feet on you
If you act like a doormat, people will use you like one
Though the rest of the sentence would need to be adapted.

He offered himself as a doormat to Trump and ended up getting walked all over

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-07-19 16:42:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The obvious butt-kissing one that springs to mind is a bit too crude. What I thought of was this:
"As the saying goes, if you act like a doormat, people will use you like one, and this is what happened to Morales: he offered himself as a doormat to Trump and ended up getting walked all over."

Maybe there will be more suggestions.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2019-07-23 15:06:14 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to be of help, María Teresa. It was an interesting question, but as you say, shame about the situation.

Example sentence(s):
  • ...and if it took a little temporary flattening to mold him into a doormat to have feet wiped all over him he's perfectly fine with that
Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 14:18
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 36
Grading comment
Thank you so much, Marie and Charles! Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Even if I had to turn in my doc, it doesn't matter, I'm always "collecting" variants for my glossaries. And, sadly, this situation with the presidents of both Guatemala and the US is a hot one right now, so I've had to use some sort of "doormat" (or sycophant or butt-kisser or whatever) analogy on more than one occasion...
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks. This is right on the money. But I used the doormat analogy for the rest of the sentence ("quien de ponerse de alfombra de Trump terminó convertido en trapeador"), so I'll wait to see if other colleagues have other ideas about the first part. :) I had to turn in my translation, so I had to translate it literally ("those who bend too much allow their backside to be seen"), I know, I don't like to do that but I didn't have much time. Thanks, anyway!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patinba: Perfect, and I think it complements the rest of the sentence rather than clashing with it.
30 mins
  -> Thanks, patinba! Yes, that's the thing, finding something that doesn't clash with the second part.

agree  Charles Davis
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles!

agree  JohnMcDove
12 days
  -> Muchas gracias, John :-)
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