haber gato encerrado
(Redirected from gato encerrado)
Spanish
editEtymology
editLiterally, “(for there) to be [an] enclosed cat”. Compare Swedish ligga en hund begraven.
Verb
edithaber gato encerrado (impersonal, third-person singular present ha gato encerrado or (used impersonally) hay gato encerrado, third-person singular preterite hubo gato encerrado, past participle habido gato encerrado)
- (idiomatic, impersonal) to have something fishy going on
- En aquella situación hubo gato encerrado.
- There was something fishy going on there.
- (idiomatic, impersonal) to have a catch; a concealed condition or difficulty
- Lo que dice del acuerdo me parece demasiado perfecto. Creo que hay gato encerrado.
- What he says does seem too good to be true. I think there's a catch.
- Dijo que yo podría tomar todos los libros, pero descubrí que había gato encerrado. Se rompió el brazo y yo necesitaría llevarlos todos sin ayuda.
- He said I could have all the books, but I discovered that there was a catch. His arm was broken and I had to carry them all myself.
See also
editFurther reading
edit- “haber gato encerrado”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014