How to Say ‘Doing nothing for five hours’ in Mexican Spanish
De brazos cruzados cinco horas
deh BRAH-sohs KROO-sah-dos SEEN-koh OH-ras
[deh BRAH-sohs KROO-sah-dos SEEN-koh OH-ras]
💬 Usage Tip: [De brazos cruzados] is an idiom: literally [with arms crossed], but really [doing nothing] or [just sitting by]. You can reuse it in phrases like [No me voy a quedar de brazos cruzados.].
Phrase Breakdown
De
[deh]
With
Used to express possession or accompaniment.
De acuerdo.
Agreed.
brazos
[BRAH-sohs]
arms
The upper limbs of the human body.
Usamos los brazos para saludar.
We use our arms to greet.
cruzados
[KROO-sah-dos]
crossed
Placed one over the other.
Estamos con los brazos cruzados.
We are with arms crossed.
cinco
[SEEN-koh]
five
The number after four.
Cinco días son una semana productiva.
Five days make a productive week.
horas
[OH-ras]
hours
Units of time equal to 60 minutes.
Tardó dos horas.
It took two hours.
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