зря хлеб есть

• ДАРОМ <ЗРЯ> ХЛЕБ ЕСТЬ coll, disapprov

[VP; subj: human]

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⇒ to live or work unproductively:

- X даром хлеб ест{{}}≈ X doesn't earn his keep (his daily bread);

- [in refer, to one's life style] X idles away his time;

- [in refer, to working] X isn't worth his salt.

     ♦ [author's usage] Глядя на быстрые руки невестки, бесшумно скользящие над столом, Василий, по их натруженной огрубелости, безошибочно определил, во сколько обходится ей благополучие и гостеприимство мужниного дома: "Не задаром ты, Мария Ильинична, здесь свой хлеб ешь, ой не задаром!" (Максимов 3). Watching his sister-in-law's quick hands darting silently about the table, Vasilii Vasilievich could tell from their work-worn roughness what a price she had had to pay for the prosperity and hospitality of her husband's home. "You earn your keep all right, Maria Ilyinichna," he thought (3a).

     ♦ [Соня:] Я и дядя Ваня работали без отдыха, боялись потратить на себя копейку и всё посылали тебе... Мы не ели даром хлеба! (Чехов 3). [S.:] Uncle Vanya and I have worked without rest, afraid to spend a kopeck on ourselves, we sent everything to you. ...We earned our daily bread (За).

     ♦ "Сидим тут, бюрократы проклятые, бумажки перекладываем, ничего не смотрим, хлеб зря едим!" (Солженицын 12). "We sit here like a damned lot of bureaucrats trading papers, not seeing past the ends of our noses - we're not worth our salt" (12a).