Spanishcortar por lo sano
Meaning: To sever a problem decisively rather than manage it halfway, making a clean break or radical decision.
Literally: To cut for the healthy
Example: “Cortó por lo sano y cerró la tienda que perdía dinero.” — He made a clean break and closed the shop that was losing money.
English equivalent: To make a clean break
Equivalents in other languages
English: make a clean break
Origin: Probably from surgery, as the Spanish Wiktionary suggests: a doctor cuts into healthy flesh (lo sano) to remove an infected part before it spreads. Cutting por lo sano is solving a problem by the quickest, most radical means, accepting the loss to stop the damage. The Peruvian writer Ricardo Palma used it of a viceroy who put an end to pleas by shipping a man off to prison.
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.
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