/debaˈnaɾse los ˈsesos/ lit. ‘to wind up one’s brains (like thread on a spool)’
Spanish idiom, everyday. To be stuck and unable to work something out.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Devanarse los sesos
?
Everyday Spanish, a little more colorful than “pensar mucho” and fine in writing. It’s reflexive, so the pronoun changes with the person: “me estoy devanando los sesos”, “se devanó los sesos toda la tarde”. It’s mostly used for thinking hard without getting anywhere, often followed by “pero no...” (but I couldn’t...).
Also said devanar los sesos
Devanarse los sesos
in real sentences
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Me estoy devanando los sesos para encontrar una solución.
I’m racking my brains to find a solution.
Tatoeba, sentence by cueyayotl, translation by _undertoad, CC BY 2.0 FR
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No importó cuanto me devanara los sesos, no fui capaz de recordar ese nombre.
No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn’t remember that name.
Tatoeba, sentence by teskmon, translation by blay_paul, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Devanarse los sesos
come from?
“Devanar” is what you do with yarn or thread: wind it onto a reel or into a ball. English Wiktionary translates the phrase literally as “to coil the brain” and cites the Real Academia dictionary, which lists “devanarse alguien los sesos”. The picture of brains being wound round and round like thread fits someone going over the same problem again and again, but we found no record of who first used it.
Mistakes learners make with Devanarse los sesos
Leaving out the pronoun: “devano los sesos” sounds wrong. You wind up your own brains, so it’s “me devano los sesos”. Also, “sesos” is plural here, unlike the English “brain”.
Other Spanish idioms like Devanarse los sesos
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