de gorra

Spanish

Etymology

From the custom at the University of Salamanca in the 16th century of rich students paying poor students for various tasks; the poor students were also invited to eat for free at banquets, where they stood out from the rich students by wearing simple caps (gorras).

Adverb

de gorra

1. (idiomatic) on someone's dime, at the expense of someone else

Derived terms

• gorrear
• gorrón

Further reading

• “de gorra”, 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