English equivalent of Polish saying "Uncle replaced hatchet with stick"

Question

Consider another nice Polish saying "Zamienił stryjek siekierkę na kijek" that literally means "Uncle replaced hatchet with stick" but I managed to form it into a little rhyme just like in Polish (I know it doesn't rhyme very well or at all). It goes: "Replaced an uncle hatchet with cudgel" (not the bludgeon or baton). I'm looking for similar word/idiom.

Explanation
This ironic and playful saying is mostly used to describe a situation in which one has made a very adverse exchange/replacement. It's been made completely unforced and as comments below say it's a regrettable choice because one thought it'd be good but it turned out to be opposite.

Example

• I bought that Volkswagen but sometimes I still miss my BMW. Heh, _________ [replaced a hatchet with cudgel].

Will you help me improve my little rhyme? :-)

Answer 1

At present I cant think of a direct corollary, for a foolhardy exchange unlike the "bad swap" of cow for beans made by "Jack and the Beanstalk" which turned out good?

If my action was foolish, one may say "xxx in haste, repent at leisure " where xxx could be Act, Buy (/Purchase) or most commonly Marry.

If I thought my business transaction was poor/ or was duped. I might say "I bought a pig in a poke" or was "Sold a pup"

So in summary I guess the best I can suggest is either your Uncle "made a bad swap" or bought/was sold either a "Pig in a poke" or "a pup".

Answer 2

The uncle in question traded down (a hatchet with a stick).

I bought that Volkswagen but sometimes I still miss my BMW. Heh, traded down.

TFD(idioms):

trade down
v.

To trade something for something else of lower value or price: My SUV used a lot of gas, so I traded it down for a smaller, more economical car.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Answer 3

English equivalent of Polish saying “Uncle replaced hatchet with stick”

A more traditional one taken from the Bible is "a mess of pottage". Here:

A mess of pottage is something immediately attractive but of little value taken foolishly and carelessly in exchange for something more distant and perhaps less tangible but immensely more valuable. The phrase alludes to Esau's sale of his birthright for a meal ("mess") of lentil stew ("pottage") in Genesis 25:29-34 and connotes shortsightedness and misplaced priorities.

Answer 4

You could say he "got the short end of the stick". It even involves a stick!

You'll find references and explanations of the phrase all over the place, for example, at phrases.org.uk or Urban Dictionary.