Tirar is one of those verbs that has a lot of different meanings depending on the context. In my experience, the most common meaning of ‘tirar’ when not in an expression is ‘to throw’. It can mean something completely different in an expression.
tirar arroz | to put down, criticize
No me gusta tirar arroz a nadie, pero ese hombre se cree mucho. | I don’t like to put anybody down, but that man has an inflated opinion of himself.
Ella no tiene confianza porque sus padres siempre le tiran arroz. | She doesn’t have confidence because her parents are always putting her down.
tirar la esponja | to throw in the towel
Tiramos la esponja después de muchos años de sacrificio sin lograr ningún resultado. | We threw in the towel after many years of sacrifice without achieving any results.
Enseño a mis hijos a nunca tirar la esponja. | I teach my kids to never throw in the towel.
tirar la piedra y esconder la mano | to hurt someone but cover it up, be a hypocrite
Es una persona de las que tira la piedra y esconde la mano. | She’s a hypocrite.
Ella suele tirar la piedra y esconder la mano. | She’s usually a hypocrite.
tirar pinta | to dress to impress
Esta noche vamos a tirar pinta. | Tonight we are going to get all dressed up.
Es bueno tirar pinta para una entrevista. | It’s good to dress to impress for an interview.
tirarse el pegote | to lie, brag, toot one’s own horn
Siempre se tira el pegote. | He’s always tooting his own horn.
Michael Jordan es un buen ejemplo de alguien que se tira el pegote. | Michael Jordan is a good example of someone who toots his own horn.
Daily Challenge: Use one of these Spanish expressions and post your experience on Facebook.
Tags: tirar
One of the most challenging aspects of learning spanish is understanding the expressions. Often times you can’t just look it up in the dictionary you have to go to someone who knows the language so they can help you break it down. Thanks!
Fantastic Jake. There are some great lines here….now just a case of remembering them!!
Hello Dave. Soy Española. Hay algunas expresiones que has puesto, que no son correctas.No se dice tirar la ESPONJA , sino,la tirar la TOALLA. Se dice LEER la cartilla, no CANTARLE la cartilla.
TIRAR la pinta supongo que te refieres a TENER buena pinta
y hay otras expresiones que ni siquiera conozco. Cantar como una almeja, cantar la justa,tirar arroz, son expresiones que no se usan en castellao, no existen.
Gracias por tus comentarios. ¿Eres de España? Hay algunos que son más comunes en partes del mundo.
Si,soy Española y vivo en España.