donde no hay mata no hay patata

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “where there is no shrub, there is no potato”, i.e. you cannot have a potato without a potato plant.

Proverb

donde no hay mata no hay patata

1. One cannot perform a task without having the necessary materials or skills to do so.
   • 2022, Javier Fernández López, Mi abuelo‎^[1], page 155:

     —Venga, Fernando, vámonos. Donde no hay mata no hay patata y con estos caguetas no hay nada que hacer—fue la despedida de Juan.

     —Come on, Fernando, let's go. Where there is no shrub, there is no potato, and with these cowards there is nothing to do—was Juan's farewell.

   • 2013, David Pérez, Cómo ser feliz en el trabajo cuando el jefe es tonto‎^[2], page 82:

     Busque. Busque y verá cómo algo queda. Si no, déjelo sin más dilaciones porque, como dicen en mi tierra, donde no hay mata, no hay patata...

     Search. Search and you will see how something is. If not, leave it without further delay because, as they say in my country, where there is no shrub, there is no potato...

   • 2018, Begoña Ameztoy, Superwoman‎^[3]:

     Este ha sido el único escollo, íntimo, ínfimo, mínimo, que me ha hecho recapacitar en la persistencia de la memoria y en que donde no hay mata, no hay patata.

     This has been the only obstacle, intimate, tiny, minimal, that has made me reconsider the persistence of memory and that where there is no shrub, there is no potato.