Posts tagged batea

Literal translation: you don’t wash nor lend your “batea”. Batea is a word inherited from the Tainos (native inhabitants of Quisqueya - Dominican Republic). It describes a big flat bowl usually made of wood used to wash gold in the river. Also used by Dominican women of past generations to carry and beat clothes in the river as they washed. It’s unclear if this idioms refers to washing gold or clothes.   

Meaning: you don’t do and you don’t let others do

Significado: usted ni hace, ni deja hacer

Use: colloquial, general