una de cal y otra de arena

Spanish

Noun

una de cal y otra de arena f (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) an alternation of two opposite things, for example hot and cold, good cop bad cop, zigzag, up and down, happy one minute and sad the next

Further reading

• “una de cal y otra de arena”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28