cortar por lo sano
Meaning: To sever a problem decisively rather than manage it halfway, making a clean break or radical decision.
Language: Spanish
Literally: to cut for the healthy
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The image is surgical: cutting away the diseased part to preserve health. The phrase evokes amputation or excision as a metaphor for removing something harmful entirely.
More idioms — Daily Life
- de tres al cuarto — Worthless, shoddy, or of poor quality.
- venir mal dadas — For things to go wrong or turn out badly.
- hacer antesala — To wait in an outer room or lobby, often in a position of subordination or anticipation.
- lío de faldas — A romantic or sexual entanglement with a woman; an affair.
- sacar el ascua con mano ajena — To get someone else to do one's dirty work or take the blame for one's own wrongdoing.
- contante y sonante — Money in ready cash; actual payment rather than promises or credit.
More Spanish idioms
- caer en gracia — To charm someone instantly or be liked right away.
- estar entre dos aguas — To be undecided or unable to choose between two options; to sit on the fence.
- arrimar el ascua a su sardina — To arrange matters selfishly in one's own favor; to look out for oneself at others' expen…
- lobo con piel de cordero — A person who appears harmless or trustworthy but is actually dangerous or deceitful.
- dar coces contra el aguijón — To resist or rebel futilely against something stronger or inevitable.
- no ganar para sustos — To be plagued by constant troubles and misfortunes; to suffer setback after setback.
From our proverbs
- To split knotty timber use smooth wedges. — Solving complex problems requires gentle, refined approaches rather than brute force or c…
- Knowledge in youth is wisdom in age. — Early learning compounds over time, transforming youthful study into seasoned understandi…
- The knowledge of the disease is half the cure. — Identifying a problem precisely enables you to address it effectively rather than waste e…