Dar plantón / Dejar plantado

to stand someone up; **to stand someone up**; **to leave someone waiting**; **to fail to show up**

Dar plantón means to fail to turn up after making plans with someone.

Dejar plantado describes what happens to the person who is left waiting.

The two expressions are closely related and are often interchangeable by changing the point of view.

They can refer to social meetings, dates, appointments or even business situations.

• does not show up for a meeting
• cancels at the last minute without warning
• leaves another person waiting
• breaks an agreed appointment
• disappears without explanation

The image behind dejar plantado is easy to understand.

The person who is waiting remains standing in the same place, almost like a plant rooted to the ground.

From this vivid image developed dar plantón, which focuses instead on the person who fails to appear.

Over time, both expressions became standard ways of describing missed appointments.

Although the expressions are often associated with romantic dates, Spaniards use them much more broadly.

You can dar plantón to:

• a friend;
• a colleague;
• your family;
• a client;
• anyone expecting you.

The emotional impact depends entirely on the importance of the meeting.

One of the most interesting features of these expressions is that Spanish has two equally common ways of describing exactly the same event.

From the absent person's perspective:

Dar plantón.

From the waiting person's perspective:

Dejar plantado.

Learning both together allows you to describe either side of the situation naturally, just as native speakers do.

Do not translate either expression literally.

English speakers would never say:

He gave me a plant.

or

He left me planted.

Instead, simply say:

• He stood me up.
• She never showed up.
• They left us waiting.

Interestingly, English and Spanish both prefer colourful metaphors rather than literal descriptions.