‘They carry water on the offended’: What does this Russian phrase mean?

"You know, you can take as much offense as you want. They carry water on the offended," a mother can say to a teenager sulking the whole day long.

The proverb “na obizhennykh vodu vozyat” ("they carry water on the offended") actually has a long history with roots back into the Russian Empire. The following is one of the most popular versions of how the phrase was born. During the reign of Peter I, when there were no city water pipes and water was brought to the population in barrels. This was done by specially trained people - ‘water carriers’..

And authorities would watch such ‘water carriers’ carefully, because they would often try to make extra money by selling the water for themselves.

A water carrier caught selling water was harnessed to a cart with a barrel instead of a horse, and he had to deliver water throughout the city all day! And as a result, they went off “offended” because this labor was extremely hard.

These days, this phrase is used towards people who get offended too often and without a serious reason. So, this catchy phrase can be said, so that such touchy people don't try to manipulate with their emotions.

Actually, there is a second part of the proverb which is usually forgotten. “Na obizhennykh vodu vozyat, a na dobrykh sami katayutsya” ("They carry water on the offended and ride on the good ones themselves"). So, if you are too nice and if you agree with everything, without setting boundaries, people may try to take advantage of you!