This proverb comes from my friend LPwho is Greek. 

Text:

“Θα το πάρεις κόκκινο.” The translation roughly means “I’ll give you the red one.” 

Context:

“This is a sarcastic saying that we use when someone asks for something ridiculous,” LP said. “For example, when I was a kid and I asked for a fancy toy, my mom would respond with that saying. She’d respond with the saying to show that 1) I wasn’t getting the toy and 2) it was a bit ridiculous of me to ask. It’s kind of a funny phrase because it’s pretty sarcastic.”

Analysis:

When I tried to research this one, I didn’t have any luck finding anything which surprised me and makes me curious about how common it is. This sort of reminds me of the popular phrase “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit,” because both are used to lightly ridicule children who may be asking for too much. After not finding anything directly tied to this phrase, I tried to see what different symbolism the color red had in Greek culture to see if I could find a connection there. In doing this, however, I mostly found red as being a symbol for blood and cycles of life, which doesn’t particularly fit with this proverb. Overall, it’s a pretty straightforward and charming phrase and I would be very interested in talking to more Greek people about if they’ve heard of it and/or use it.