на земле не валяется

• НА ДОРОГЕ <НА УЛИЦЕ, НА ПОЛУ, НА ЗЕМЛЕ> НЕ ВАЛЯЕТСЯ coll

[VP; pres only; fixed WO]

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1. [subj: usu. concr]

⇒ sth. cannot be obtained easily, without effort:

- X на дороге не валяется{{}}≈ you don't <won't> find X lying around (in <on> the street);

- you don't (won't) find X (just) waiting to be picked up <be found>;

- X won't just fall into your lap;

- X can't be had just for the asking;

- [usu. of money] X doesn't grow on trees.

     ♦ "...На заем стали подписываться. Я без памяти-то на триста рублей подписалась... И Лизка, глупая, пятьдесят рублей выкинула..." - "Пущай [ungrammat = пускай]", - миролюбиво сказал Михаил... "Да ведь деньги-то не щепа - на улице не валяются" (Абрамов 1). " ..Everyone began signing up for the Loan. Without thinking, I put myself down for three hundred rubles. ...And Lizka, silly girl, threw in fifty rubles. ..."Let her," said Mikhail peaceably. ... "But money isn't wood chips-you don't find it lying around on the street" (1a).

2. [subj: human (often pl), abstr, or concr]

⇒ some type of person (thing etc) is rare, not often found:

- [of people or things] X-ы <такие [NPs], как X,> на дороге не валяются{{}}≈ Xs <[NPs] like X> are hard <not easy> to come by;

- Xs <[NPs] like X> don't come along every day;

- Xs <[NPs] like X> are few and far between;

- there aren't (that) many Xs about (around) (these days);

|| [of qualities etc] X на дороге не валяется{{}}≈ X is hard <not easy> to come by.

     ♦ "Рекомендую: Золотарев, Илья Никанорыч... кадровый товарищ, такие нынче на дороге не валяются..." (Максимов 1). "Let me introduce you: Ilya Nikanorych Zolotarev. He's...an experienced comrade. There aren't that many of them about these days..." (1a).