Imagine this: you’re at a bustling tapas bar in Madrid, attempting to order patatas bravas in your best (and possibly worst) Spanish.

You accidentally knock over a tower of napkins, sending sangria cascading across the table, soaking the tapas and drenching everyone’s phones…

Congratulations, amigo/a, you’ve just managed to liarla parda. Here is what you need to know about this idiom if you want to learn Spanish.

Learning Spanish : What does “liarla parda” mean in Spanish ?

Essentially, “liarla parda” translates to “to make a big mess of things,” “to screw up royally,” or, in more colorful (and slightly less polite) English, “to royally screw the pooch.”

It’s that feeling when you’ve really, TRULY, EPICALLY messed up. Think of it as the Spanish equivalent of a facepalm moment, but on a grander, more calamitous scale.

Formal/neutral ways of translating “liarla parda” in Spanish :

• To make a big mess of things
• To create a chaotic situation
• To make a blunder
• To mess up badly

More Colloquial/Expressive ways of translating “liarla parda” in Spanish :

• To royally screw up
• To make a hash of something
• To really mess things up
• To botch things up big time
• To completely screw the pooch (very informal and vulgar, use with caution)
• To create a complete and utter disaster

What does “liar” mean in Spanish ?

The verb has several meanings :

• LIAR = To confuse or mix up: This meaning implies creating disorder or confusion.

For example: “Me lié con las instrucciones.” (I got confused with the instructions.) or “Se liaron los cables.” (The cables got tangled.)

• LIAR = To get involved (in something negative): “Liarse” (the reflexive form) can mean to get involved in a mess, a complicated situation, or a relationship.

For example: “No te líes en sus problemas.” (Don’t get involved in their problems.)

Or, “Se lió con esa chica.” (He got involved with that girl.) This often implies a negative or problematic involvement.

• LIARLA = to paint the town (red), to party hard

“Parda”: what does it mean in Spanish?

Now, the million-dollar question: why “parda”?

Is it like “leopardo” is the male and “leoparda” the female, and “parda” would be short for a female leopard?

No

“Parda” usually means “brown” or “grey” in Spanish, so why is it attached to this expression of utter chaos?

Frankly, nobody knows for sure.

There are theories, of course. Some speculate it might be related to the color of a particularly messy or chaotic situation (think mud, or perhaps the aftermath of a food fight).

Others suggest it could be linked to the idea of being “in the dark” or “confused.” The truth, like a good Spanish siesta, remains elusive.

We may never know the true origin of “parda,” but its presence in the expression adds a certain je ne sais quoi – a dash of mystery, a sprinkle of humor, and a whole lot of emphasis.

The RAE explains that “liarla parda” is an emphatic variant of the colloquial expression “liarla,” probably used only in Spain. The adjective in it only has an intensifying value.

Anyway, there is a famous video that popularized the idiom :

What does the girl say ?

“ehhh…se me he equivocado de producto y he echado ácido clor… sí, ácido clorídrico encima de sulfato de…de cloro no sulfato… No sé lo que era y lo he echado sabes y ha hecho una reacción ha empezado a salir gas amarillo por ahí…y ha afectado a la gente sabes? Ha afectado porque la gente ha tenido que salir de sus casas y hay gente que tenía que ir a trabajar que no ha podido el coche… que vamos que la he liado parda, sabes ? Una niña ha estado mal y y y una señora pues…se ha mareado tambien…a mi no me ha pasado nada”. 

Which means in English:

“Uh… I got the product wrong and I poured hydrochloric acid… yeah, hydrochloric acid on top of chlorine sulfate… no, not sulfate… I don’t know what it was and I poured it, you know, and it caused a reaction, yellow gas started coming out of there…and it affected people, you know, it affected them because people had to leave their houses and there are people who had to go to work who couldn’t, the car… well, I really screwed up big time, you know, a girl was unwell and and and a lady, well, she also got dizzy…nothing happened to me.”

Now you understand what “liarla parda” means.

Spanish idioms : “liarla gorda” and beyond

Just like a good Spanish fiesta, “liarla parda” comes in various flavors.

If you want to amplify the magnitude of the mess you’ve created, you can always opt for “liarla gorda” (to make a big mess) or, for truly epic levels of disaster, “liarla gordísima” (to make a humongous mess).

It’s like adding extra spice to your paella : the more “gorda” it is, the more intense the flavor (and in this case, the more hilarious the mishap).

Putting the Spanish idiom “liarla parda” into practice

Let’s imagine a few scenarios where you might use this delightful expression:

• Scenario 1: You try to impress your Spanish host family by cooking a traditional dish, but accidentally set the kitchen on fire. “¡Ay, Dios mío! ¡La he liado parda!” (Oh my God! I’ve really messed things up!)
• Scenario 2: You’re giving a presentation at work, but your PowerPoint malfunctions, and you accidentally play a video of yourself singing karaoke. “¡Qué desastre! ¡La he liado parda!” (What a disaster! I’ve made a huge mess of things!)
• Scenario 3: You’re trying to parallel park in a narrow street in Barcelona, but you misjudge the distance and end up scraping the side of a parked car. “¡Madre mía! ¡La he liado parda!” (Goodness me! I’ve really screwed up!)

So, there you have it.

“Liarla parda” : a quintessential Spanish expression that perfectly captures those moments when everything goes hilariously wrong. Embrace it, use it, and remember: the best stories often come from the biggest messes.

Just try not to liarla parda too often, unless you want to become the star of your own Spanish comedy show.

¡Suerte! (Good luck!)

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