Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

porque sale por un pico

English translation:

because it costs a fortune (to maintain)

Added to glossary by Robert Forstag
May 26, 2013 22:28
11 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term

porque sale por un pico

Spanish to English Law/Patents Journalism Spain // Headline in El País
The phrase occurrs in a subheadline for the "Photo of the Week" in today's sunday supplement:

QUE CONTINÚE LA FIESTA

Guantánamo desde la contabilidad moral es una cárcel ilegal, kafkiana e insoportable. Pero las autoridades estadounidenses lo tienen claro: si se cierra será porque sale por un pico.

The final sentence of the short article under the photo reads as follows:
Pero bueno, si preguntas a las autoridades por qué conviene cerrar Guantánamo, te dirán que porque se pone en un pico.

I'm just curious here. I'm unfamiliar with the expression and I was not able to either find it or infer its meaning from a brief search on the Internet.

Thank you.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +8 because it costs a fortune (to maintain)

Discussion

Julie Thurston May 26, 2013:
I should have known the States wouldn't wilt at a few bad reviews :)
Robert Forstag (asker) May 26, 2013:
@Julie No big deal. :D
Julie Thurston May 26, 2013:
jaja, I was way off!
Robert Forstag (asker) May 26, 2013:
@Julie Not a bad inference (based on other uses of "pico," as well as its literal sense) but I think Jenni has correctly indicated its meaning in the context of my posting.
Julie Thurston May 26, 2013:
Do you think it's something like, situations that come to light and certain dialogue becoming too controversial for the government/country to withstand. "Mi vecina no cierra el pico, no recuerdo haberla visto callada" Meaning too much talk.

Proposed translations

+8
17 mins
Selected

because it costs a fortune (to maintain)

See: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=pico

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Note added at 26 mins (2013-05-26 22:54:34 GMT)
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You can obviously choose among a wide range of ways of saying that something costs a fortune (costs an arm and a leg, etc.) Have a nice evening!
Note from asker:
Thank you. I did check wordreference.com but for some reason didn't see the entry. Whoops....
"Costs a mint", "is prohibitively expensive", etc. Thanks once again, and buenas noches!
Peer comment(s):

agree Jorge Merino : Yes, same as "ponerse en un pico"
44 mins
Cheers and thanks, Jorge.
agree Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
1 hr
Cheers and thanks, Beatriz.
agree Christine Walsh
1 hr
Many thanks, Christine.
agree Andy Watkinson
1 hr
Thanks very much, Andy.
agree Cinnamon Nolan
8 hrs
Cheers and thanks, Cinnamon.
agree James A. Walsh
10 hrs
Cheers and thanks, James.
agree Ion Zubizarreta
10 hrs
Thanks very much, Ion.
agree neilmac : Arm and a leg, "un riñon"... etc. Like gasoline in Spain...
10 hrs
Thanks, Neil. I've always loved the "riñon" expression. It's up there with "Me cago en la leche".
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Jenni."
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