"steal from the rich to sponsor the poor"

[LeTyan]

Hi,

In Chinese culture, there is a saying "steal from the rich to sponsor the poor"(my translation of that but could have problems) to describe a certain group of people.

Is there something similar to that in English culture? Or how would you paraphrase that? Is the word "sponsor" used properly here?

Thanks!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Are you familiar with the character "Robin Hood"? He stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood

 

[LeTyan]

Are you familiar with the character "Robin Hood"? He stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood

Oh! I know him! Thanks for reminding me of him! So "steal from the rich and GIVE to the poor". The word "give" would suffice right?
When you mentioned "Robin Hood", it also reminds of the TV series "Leverage".

 

[Tdol]

Give suffices, and I wouldn't use sponsor unless the person is doing something like sponsoring a team with the money.

 

[MikeNewYork]

<<<When you mentioned "Robin Hood", it also reminds of the TV series "Leverage".>>>

Yes, I love the show "Leverage".

 

[Matthew Wai]

The four-character Chinese phrase in question translates as "to rob the rich to help the poor"── quoted from http://zh.glosbe.com/zh/en/劫富济贫

Not a teacher, but a Chinese.

 

[Tdol]

That would work too, though gave is standard in English because of Robin Hood.