Hacerse cruces

to be astonished; **to be astonished**; **to be shocked**; **to be amazed**; **to be baffled**; **to be dumbfounded**; **to be unable to believe something**; **to be beside oneself with amazement**

Hacerse cruces means to be astonished, to be shocked, to be unable to believe something, or to wonder how something could possibly have happened.

It is usually used when something seems particularly surprising, outrageous, inexplicable or scandalous.

A common construction is:

Hacerse cruces con algo.

→ To be astonished at something / to be completely baffled by something.

Another very common form is:

No salgo de mi asombro; me hago cruces.

→ I just can't believe it.

• is shocked by someone's behaviour
• cannot understand how something happened
• finds a situation extraordinary or outrageous
• is amazed by a piece of news
• cannot believe something they have seen or heard

The expression comes directly from the sign of the cross, a traditional Christian gesture.

Someone who was deeply shocked, frightened or astonished might make the sign of the cross repeatedly, expressing a reaction similar to:

"¡Dios mío!"

The figurative expression eventually came to mean being extremely surprised or unable to understand something.

The religious origin is still recognisable in the modern expression.

Hacerse cruces can express different shades of reaction.

Astonishment

Me hago cruces con su inteligencia.

→ I'm amazed by his intelligence.

Disbelief

Me hago cruces de que haya podido hacerlo.

→ I can't believe he managed to do it.

Indignation or scandal

Se hacía cruces con lo que había hecho su vecino.

→ She was absolutely shocked by what her neighbour had done.

The context determines whether the dominant feeling is admiration, disbelief, shock or indignation.

The expression belongs to a group of Spanish idioms whose origins lie in religious gestures and beliefs:

• Hacerse cruces → be astonished or shocked.
• Poner el grito en el cielo → protest loudly or express indignation.
• No tener ni oficio ni beneficio → originally connected with traditional social and religious ideas about occupation and livelihood.
• Estar en un sinvivir → be in a state of extreme anxiety.

In hacerse cruces, the original gesture of making the sign of the cross has survived as a metaphor for an extreme emotional reaction.

Do not normally translate:

Me hago cruces.

as:

I make crosses.

Although the literal image is precisely that, the natural English equivalent is:

I can't believe it.

I'm astonished.

I'm completely baffled.

I'm absolutely shocked.