Italian Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Italian language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I think that a very strong way to answer a phrase like "Don't think this is going to grant you any special treatment" or the like, is "I will sing for my supper, I don't expect it for free"
At least, I like this English expression very much.
Is there an equivalent expression in Italian? Even though I am Italian I did not find anything like it.
Guadagnarsi il pane (la vita) col sudore della fronte is similar to "sing for one's supper." (Reference: Treccani.it)
Keep in mind, however, that it has some cultural history (detailed below) not to mention alliteration, that one can't easily duplicate. There is also something about it that is slightly archaic.
To sing for one's supper, meaning:
Work for one's pay or reward, as in Entertaining visiting scientists is part of the job; you know I have to sing for my supper.
This metaphoric term alludes to wandering minstrels who performed in taverns and were paid with a meal. First recorded in 1609, it gained currency with the familiar nursery rhyme, “Little Tommy Tucker, sings for his supper” (c. 1744).
Here is the text of the nursery rhyme, "Little Tommy Tucker, sings for his supper
"
The saying was further popularized with a musical number "Sing For Your Supper" from the "The Boys from Syracuse" in 1938.
