Dar gato por liebre
To give someone cat instead of hare.
to rip someone off; **to rip someone off**; **to pass something off as something else**; **to sell someone a lemon** (for defective products); **to pull a fast one**
Dar gato por liebre means to deceive someone by giving them something of lower quality than what they expected or paid for.
Nos dieron gato por liebre.
We were ripped off.
No quiero que me den gato por liebre.
I don't want to be sold something inferior.
Esa empresa lleva años dando gato por liebre.
That company has been passing off poor-quality products for years.
Compró una copia creyendo que era el original. Le dieron gato por liebre.
He thought he was buying the original, but he was fooled.
The deception usually involves appearance rather than outright lies.
The victim believes they are receiving one thing when, in reality, they are receiving something inferior.
- sells an inferior product as if it were superior
- misleads customers
- disguises poor quality
- exaggerates the value of something
- is the victim of a scam or dishonest transaction
The expression dates back to times when hare was a prized food.
Unscrupulous sellers were believed to substitute cheaper meat—traditionally said to be cat—and sell it as hare.
Whether this happened frequently or not is less important than the fact that the story became deeply rooted in popular culture.
The idiom has survived long after the original practice disappeared.
Today, dar gato por liebre is used in almost every area of life.
It may refer to:
- fake luxury goods;
- misleading advertising;
- defective products;
- dishonest services;
- even exaggerated promises.
The common thread is always deception through substitution.
Many European languages have expressions about dishonest merchants substituting one product for another.
Spanish chose one of the most memorable images:
selling a cat as if it were a hare.
Centuries later, nobody expects to find cat meat in a restaurant—
but Spaniards still say:
¡Nos dieron gato por liebre!
whenever they feel they have been deceived.
Do not translate the expression literally.
English speakers would never say:
They gave me cat instead of hare.
Instead, express the idea:
- They ripped me off.
- They passed it off as genuine.
- They sold me something inferior.
The important idea is deception, not the animals.
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