A salto de mata
By jumping from bush to bush.
from one thing to another; **from one thing to another**; **haphazardly**; **without a fixed plan**; **by the seat of one's pants**; **from pillar to post**; **here and there**; **on the fly**
A salto de mata means without a fixed plan or direction, from one thing to another, or in a haphazard and improvised way.
Lleva años viviendo a salto de mata.
He's been living from one place to another for years.
Vamos trabajando a salto de mata, según van surgiendo los problemas.
We're working on the fly, dealing with problems as they arise.
El periodista iba de un sitio a otro a salto de mata.
The journalist went from place to place without any fixed plan.
La conversación fue a salto de mata, pasando de un tema a otro.
The conversation jumped from one subject to another.
Después de perder su casa, vivió varios meses a salto de mata.
After losing his home, he lived from place to place for several months.
It can also describe living or proceeding precariously, moving from one situation to another without stability or security.
The exact meaning depends on context.
- moves from one thing to another without a plan
- works or lives in an improvised way
- goes from place to place
- tackles problems as they arise
- changes subjects abruptly
- lives without stability or a fixed routine
The traditional explanation connects the expression with hunting and moving through rough countryside, where a person or animal might jump from one mata (bush) to another.
The image suggests irregular, improvised movement, without following a straight or predetermined path.
Whatever its precise route into the language, the literal image carries the meaning clearly on its own.
The expression has two especially common nuances.
1. Lack of planning
Trabajamos a salto de mata.
→ We work in an improvised way, dealing with each problem as it comes.
2. Lack of stability
Vive a salto de mata.
→ He lives from place to place / He has no stable situation.
The second use can suggest precariousness or insecurity, not merely spontaneity.
Mata is still a perfectly ordinary Spanish word for a bush or small plant, although it can sound somewhat literary or rural in some contexts.
The expression therefore preserves a vivid rural image that is less immediately obvious to modern speakers.
It is also interesting that a salto de mata can describe both physical movement and a more abstract way of living or working: in both cases, the underlying idea is the same—moving forward without a fixed route.
Do not translate:
Trabajamos a salto de mata.
as:
We work by jumping from bush to bush.
Natural translations include:
We work on the fly.
We work in a rather haphazard way.
We just deal with things as they come.
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