marear la perdiz
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Literally, “to daze the partridge”. It comes from bird hunting. Before launching the birds to fly to hunt them, the hunters set on them a little, with dogs or beaters so that they get scared and fly away, but it is done repeatedly, thus delaying the beginning of the hunt.
Verb edit
marear la perdiz (first-person singular present mareo la perdiz, first-person singular preterite mareé la perdiz, past participle mareado la perdiz)
- (idiomatic) to mess around, to dilly-dally
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “marear alguien la perdiz”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014