The idiom “rob Peter to pay Paul,” means “to borrow someone from someone in order to repay someone else.” In Nicaragua, the same idea is expressed by a phrase that translates as “take Juan’s clothes to give them to Pedro.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Giving Juan’s Clothes to Pedro”
I was looking at a collection of slang from Nicaragua, and I like this one.
You know how in English we say, rob Peter to pay Paul?
And what’s your sense of that?
You’re taking money out of your left pocket and putting it in your right.
Exactly.
In Nicaragua, you say, de visio a Juan para vestir a Pedro.
It is, he undressed Juan to dress Pedro.
Oh, so you take Juan’s clothes and give them to Pedro.
Yeah.
That’s funny.
So you still have a naked dude, but…
Yeah.
That’s a good one.
Everybody wins.
So this is from a collection of Nicaraguan slang.
Yeah, I just found it online.
Pretty cool, huh?
Awesome.
Yeah, it’s very great.
Call us with your slang, 877-929-9673,
Or send in an email to words@waywordradio.org.
