No dar pie con bola
Example: Hoy no doy pie con bola con mis tareas de matemáticas.
Definition
"No dar pie con bola" is a Spanish expression meaning to be completely unsuccessful or unable to do something right, often due to confusion or mistakes. For example, if someone says, "Hoy no doy pie con bola con mis tareas de matemáticas," it means they are struggling a lot with their math homework.
Translations
-
to get nothing right -
er niets van bakken -
no encertar-ne ni una -
ne rien réussir -
nichts auf die Reihe bekommen
Etymology
The phrase "no dar pie con bola" literally translates to 'not giving foot with ball,' which comes from sports imagery, especially football or soccer, where coordinating foot and ball is essential. It evolved to figuratively describe situations where one cannot coordinate or manage tasks properly, thus failing repeatedly. Did you know it humorously conveys a sense of clumsiness or continuous error?
Learn to use this expression actively
"No dar pie con bola" appears in the Vocaplus list "Spanish - General - Modismos y refranes - (C1) - parte 1", containing 120 commonly used expressions.
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