Is there any equivalent to this Persian proverb? "A bad or faulty item should inevitably be kept by its owner"

Question

We use a proverb that implies "A bad property (i.e., a thing belonging to someone) or item should inevitably be tolerated/kept by its owner" when we want to say "This bad item won't be accepted by anyone else except its owner, no one is obliged to get, accept or tolerate it but its owner." We use this funny and sarcastic proverb specially when we are returning something to its owner/seller because we have noticed it is faulty.

For example:

1. Suppose I have a hairdryer that has some problems in turning on and off. Some day you (as my roommate in a dormitory) ask to borrow it while you know it is a faulty device. When you are returning it to me, I say: "You can keep it for yourself if you like!" and then you reply smilingly and sarcastically: "Oh, no! Thanks, but a bad item should inevitably be kept by its owner!" (In other words, you'd better keep it for yourself, no one is ready to accept it even for free;or :don't try to give/ sell a faulty item to others.)

2. A factory produces a product that customers stop buying because it hasn't achieved good reputation in the market, and those who have bought it are trying to return it. When they are asked the reason they say: "This is a useless and faulty product, so it's better be kept by its owners (producers); and it serves them (the owners) right that no one buy this poor quality product."

Is there any equivalent to this Persian proverb?

PS:

1-The word for word translation of this funny proverb is "A bad possession/ property (eventually) would be stuck in its owner's beard !"(somethng will be stuck in someone's beard: is an idiom and means someone won't be get rid of something!)

2- Actually we use this proverb mostly when we are talking with our friends while rejecting a faulty item they are offering us, or when we are angry at a seller whom we think has deceived us by selling a faulty item and now we want to return it.

Answer 1

Thanks, but no thanks.

This expression can be used in situations other than the ones you describe; nonetheless, it can convey that same meaning in just four words.

Note how TFD lists this idiom, and provides a meaning that is similar to your hair dryer scenario:

Thanks, but no thanks.

Inf. Thank you, but I am not interested. (A way of turning down something that is not very desirable.) Alice: How would you like to buy my old car? Jane: Thanks, but no thanks.

Answer 2

There's no proverb, but there's a common saying: "This thing is more trouble than it is worth." That is the closest US English idiom in terms of meaning and intention to what you asked, but there's no implication that the creator should own/use the item. We tend to be direct about our dissatisfaction with a service or product, to the point where many cultures would consider it confrontational.

Additionally, in US English, a faulty product is idiomatically referred to as "a lemon". We tend to reserve usage of that saying to mechanical objects that don't work properly, like a car or an appliance. You wouldn't, for example, refer to a person, house or cake as "a lemon", if it were bad in some way.

"You sold me a lemon. I want a refund. This thing is more trouble than it's worth."

Answer 3

If sarcasm and proverb usage is what you want, you can twist the classic "one man's trash is another man's treasure," by saying something like "sometimes, one man's trash is also another man's trash."

Answer 4

The expression:

You couldn't give it away

Can be used to describe an item that is effectively useless, such that even attempts to give it away for free are refused.

Example:

"A Park Worth Millions, and He Can't Give It Away"

(Due to high operating costs).

Answer 5

I don't think there is an equivalent for that exact saying, but the the object itself might be called a white elephant: something that requires a lot of care and money and that gives little profit or enjoyment. A white elephant is also said to be "more trouble than it is worth."

So your room-mate's repsonse, might be:

No, thank you. That hair dryer is too much of a white elephant for me.

Answer 6

This does not directly speak to your literal proverb, but there is the saying: make lemonade from lemons, which is used to express to make the best out of a bad situation.

You could impose this sentiment onto the "lemon holder":

Nobody wants your lemons, make your own lemonade.

Answer 7

I've heard "That's your row to hoe" though Google treats the idiom as just a difficult task and not one you specially deserve.

"You've made your bed now lie in it" for a situation you brought on yourself

"Eat your own dogfood" like the SO founder once wrote

Answer 8

I was thinking about something more catchy, like waste of space.

Although it doesn't fit perfectly, it can be used in that situation.

Waste of space

The wrecked furniture in here is just a waste of space. (TFD)

So, the response can be:

"That waste of space? Thanks, I don't need this!"

Answer 9

A somewhat similar expression is sometimes used in the context of computing:

Just because it's free doesn't mean you can afford it.

Google search results indicate that several computer forum users have attached this saying as a tagline to their posts, in each case ascribing the expression to "Unknown."

Answer 10

I wouldn't take it as a gift.

[upon first seeing your possession]
Well, no one will steal it...

One can compose more elaborate versions specific to the case. These are stronger, taken literally, but they are usually humorous and therefore less brusque: Keep your hair-dryer? No, thanks, I'll just shave my head.

Answer 11

If I was giving back a substandard item to someone, I might in a suitable situation use the saying "a bad penny always turns up".

It conveys something a bit like your expression, but instead of suggesting the original owner should have kept it, it's saying that it's useless to try to get rid of it because it will come back anyway.

Answer 12

Thanks, but I can't keep that poisoned chalice!

Poisoned chalice (British) It is something that harms the person it is given to although it seemed very good when they first got it.

• "The leadership of the party turned out to be a poisoned chalice."

I suppose that this faulty item does more harm than good. So this expression works here.

Answer 13

"you get what you pay for" is often used to express dissatisfaction for items of inferior quality. it's generally understood to mean that minimal price implies minimal quality. this is especially used for items that are free as well - when nothing is paid, nothing of value is transacted.

Answer 14

Recently in the software world, I have heard this as "eating one's own dogfood" - loosely translated as "if you write it, you should use it." (Sometimes this is shortened to "dogfooding" software or a process.)

Answer 15

I just want to add "Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish". This is more of a phrase you would use when you disposed of a faulty item, not returned it to the owner.
As someone pointed out, in the US you are generally not expected to over-inspect something you were given for free. If you don't want to keep it, you can give it to someone else who might find a use for it (or fix it), or just toss it. The original owner is not going to expect it to be returned, and if you did they would probably just say, "go ahead and toss it" and consider you rude for trying to make them take back something they gave you, as "It was a gift".
This is how Christmas Fruit Cake gets passed around year after year, lol.

Answer 16

A couple of phrases that seem to be remotely similar:

• “Don’t air your dirty laundry [in public]” or “Keep your dirty laundry to yourself”, which refer to concealing information about which you should be ashamed.  (Sort of the opposite of “Don’t hide your light under a bushel” or “[Put your] best foot forward”, which encourage you to accentuate and publicize your best attributes.)
• “A face that only a mother could love” is fairly literal and self-explanatory, referring to a person so ugly that he would not be accepted anywhere but within his family.