woe betide
Language: en
Meaning: (transitive,idiomatic,humorousorliterary)Used towarnsomeone thattroublewilloccurif that person does something:badthingswillhappento.Woe betideyou if you try that with my sister again!c.1588–1593(date written),William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene ii],page44, column 2:O gentleAaron, we are all vndone. / Now helpe, orwoe betidethee euermore.1701,[William Pittis], “The Non-juring Clergyman”, inChaucer’s Whims: Being Some Select Fables and Tales in Verse, Very Applicable to the Present Times; [...], London:[…]D. Edwards,[…],→OCLC,page 8:Woe betidetheSubſcribers, theirChildrenandWives, / This Action ſhall coſt 'em five hundredFolksLives.1865–1866,John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Mantle of St.John de Matha: A Legend of “The Red, White, and Blue,” A.D. 1154–1864”, inThe Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier[…], London; Glasgow:Collins’ Clear-Type Press, published[1880s?],→OCLC, stanza 9,page375, column 2:"God save us!" cried the captain, / "For naught can man avail; / Oh,woe betidethe ship that lacks / Her rudder and her sail!["]1927November,C[arlo] Collodi, chapter XXV, in Carol Della Chiesa, transl.,The Adventures of Pinocchio[…], New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company, published1944,→OCLC,page123:A man, remember, whether rich or poor, should do something in this world. No one can find happiness without work.Woe betidethe lazy fellow! Laziness is a serious illness and one must cure it immediately; yes, even from early childhood.1989, Annie Woodhouse, “Conclusion: Transvestism and the Politics of Gender”, inFantastic Women: Sex, Gender and Transvestism, Basingstoke, Hampshire; London:Macmillan Education,→DOI,→ISBN,page137:However,woebetidethe male who takes that downward step into femininity.2005,E[rnst] H[ans] Gombrich, “A Very Violent Revolution”, in Caroline Mustill, transl.,A Little History of the World, New Haven, Conn.; London:Yale University Press,→ISBN,page221:Andwoe betidethe peasant who protested! He would be lucky to escape with a few blows across the face from his lord's riding whip, for a noble landowner was also his peasant's judge and could punish him as he pleased.2019September 11,Felicity Cloake, “How to make the perfect frying-pan pizza”, inKatharine Viner, editor,The Guardian[1], London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon13 July 2020:[W]oe betidethe person who wanders into a temple of the Neapolitan pie and asks for a ham and pineapple, or indeed the fool who demands a thin and crispy base in old-school Chicago.
Examples:EN: Slow and majestic, they can charge with the speed of an arrow, and woe betide the hunter if his shot is misplaced.
ES: Lento y majestuoso, pueden cargar con la velocidad de una flecha, y ¡ay del cazador! si su tiro no da en el blanco.
EN: But if you crucify me one more time, one last time, then woe betide you.
ES: Pero, si me crucificáis una vez más, una última vez, entonces, ¡ay de vosotros!
EN: All day long cap and bike stayed there and woe betide anyone who touched them.
ES: Todo el día la gorra y la bicicleta estaban allí y cuidado quien los tocase.
EN: And woe betide you if you've told a lie.
ES: Y pobre de ti si has mentido.
EN: Shrill shriek the crows that to the town in whirls roam: soon come the snows - and woe betide him who has no home.
ES: Los cuervos chillan... y vuelan a la ciudad... pronto llegará la nieve... y ¡ay de quien no tiene un hogar!
EN: And woe betide anyone who came to tell him that it was a girl.
ES: Y más vale que nadie le diga que podría ser una niña.
EN: And woe betide you if you stop, huh!
ES: Y pobre de ti si te paras, ¡eh!
EN: The Bunnies will dine with you, wait on you, twist with you, but woe betide the man who breaks the Commandment,
ES: Las stripers cenan contigo, te atienden y bailan para ti. Pero hay una regla que jamás se debe romper:
EN: You and your wife must keepwell apart, for woe betide any manwho commits carnal sin this night.
ES: Tú y tu mujer debéis estar bien separados... porque, ¡ay del hombre que ose cometer pecado carnal esta noche!
EN: You were sleeping, woe betide the one who will awake you!
ES: Tú duermes, y ojo con despertaste.
EN: I had never noticed before that it's always woe betide him.
ES: ¡Vaya! Nunca me había fijado que siempre se ha dicho en masculino:
EN: I ' II bring you down a peg or two! And woe betide you if I catch sight of you when the King is here!
ES: Y te dare una buena razon para estar entristecida si te veo con pena cuando el Rey este aqui!
EN: You're lying, woe betide you.
ES: ¡Ay de vosotros, mentirosos!
EN: It's convenient to assume a viral disease, but woe betide us if it's not a virus!
ES: Es conveniente suponer una enfermedad viral, pero ¡ay de nosotros si no es un virus!
EN: O woman, whom I see before me in the night, if you are deceiving me again, woe betide you!
ES: O Weib, das in der Nacht ich vor mir seh, Oh, mujer, a quien veo ante mí en medio de la noche, betrügst du jetzt mich noch, dann weh dir! Weh! si estás engañándome de nuevo, ¡pobre de ti!
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