Echar pestes
To throw out plagues / foul smells.
to bad-mouth; **to bad-mouth**; **to rant about**; **to speak very badly about**; **to rail against**; **to tear someone to pieces** (figuratively)
Echar pestes means to speak very badly about someone or something, to rant about, to bad-mouth, to denounce fiercely, or to complain bitterly.
Lleva días echando pestes de su antiguo jefe.
He's been bad-mouthing his former boss for days.
No hace más que echar pestes del gobierno.
She does nothing but rant about the government.
Estuvo toda la cena echando pestes del restaurante.
He spent the whole dinner complaining bitterly about the restaurant.
Desde que se fue, echa pestes de la empresa.
Ever since he left, he's spoken very badly about the company.
It usually implies harsh criticism expressed openly and at length.
- criticises a person relentlessly
- complains bitterly about a situation
- speaks with obvious anger or resentment
- attacks someone verbally
- denounces something in very strong terms
The word peste has long symbolised something extremely unpleasant, whether a deadly disease or a revolting smell.
To echar pestes was originally to emit something metaphorically as offensive as a plague or a foul odour.
Over time, the expression came to refer to words filled with hostility, criticism and resentment.
The expression almost always implies strong emotional involvement.
Someone who echa pestes is not offering calm or objective criticism.
They are speaking with irritation, anger or disappointment.
For that reason, the idiom often suggests that the speaker is venting rather than analysing.
Spanish has several expressions for speaking negatively about someone:
- Echar pestes → to rant or bad-mouth.
- Poner a caer de un burro → to criticise mercilessly.
- Poner verde a alguien → to speak badly about someone behind their back.
- Despellejar a alguien → to tear someone apart verbally.
Among them, echar pestes is perhaps the broadest, since it can refer equally well to people, organisations, products, governments or situations that provoke strong dissatisfaction.
Do not translate the expression literally.
English speakers would never say:
He throws plagues.
Instead, use expressions such as:
- He bad-mouths everyone.
- She's always ranting about it.
- He speaks very badly about them.
- She rails against the system.
Choose the translation according to the intensity of the criticism.
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