cortar el bacalao

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “to cut the cod(fish)”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koɾˌtaɾ el bakaˈlao/ [koɾˌt̪aɾ el β̞a.kaˈla.o]
• Syllabification: cor‧tar el ba‧ca‧la‧o

Verb

cortar el bacalao (first-person singular present corto el bacalao, first-person singular preterite corté el bacalao, past participle cortado el bacalao)

1. (idiomatic) to run the show; call the shots

Further reading

• “cortar el bacalao”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10