на безрыбье и рак рыба

Literally, “when there are no fish, even a crayfish is a fish”; cognate with Polish na bezrybiu i rak ryba. Compare English in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

• IPA^(key): [nə‿bʲɪzˈrɨb⁽ʲ⁾je i rak ˈrɨbə]

на безры́бье и рак ры́ба • (na bezrýbʹje i rak rýba)

1. beggars can't be choosers (in a pinch anything will do)

• ни ры́ба ни мя́со (ni rýba ni mjáso)

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “безрыбный”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.
• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “рак”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.