/meˌteɾ la ˈpata/ lit. ‘put your paw in it’
Spanish idiom, colloquial. To say or do something tactless that embarrasses you or upsets someone.
How do people use Meter la pata
?
Colloquial and very common across the Spanish-speaking world, fine with anyone. Usually in the past: “metí la pata”, “Tom metió la pata”. The blunder itself is “una metedura de pata” in Spain and “una metida de pata” in much of Latin America.
Also said meter la gamba
Meter la pata
in real sentences
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No quiero meter la pata.
I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth.
Tatoeba, sentence by rafaeldejesus8199, translation by rafaeldejesus8199, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Tom metió la pata.
Tom goofed.
Tatoeba, sentence by arh, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Meter la pata
come from?
Nobody knows. The Real Academia’s dictionary lists it, but no first use is recorded. One popular story pictures an animal stepping into a trap; another ties it to “Pateta”, an old Spanish nickname for the devil. Neither has evidence behind it.
Mistakes learners make with Meter la pata
Translating “put your foot in it” as “meter el pie”. The Spanish uses an animal’s paw, pata, which also works as a jokey word for a human leg.
Other Spanish idioms like Meter la pata
Spot a mistake in Meter la pata
?
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