Mandar a freír espárragos

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/man·ˈdaɾ a fɾe·ˈiɾ es·ˈpa·ra·ɣos/

To send someone to fry asparagus.

Frequency

ConversationVery common

JournalismOccasional

LiteraryRare

AcademicVery rare

In English

to tell someone to get lost; **to tell someone to get lost**; **to send someone packing**; **to tell someone to go away**; **to tell someone to take a hike**; **to tell someone where to go**

Meaning

Mandar a freír espárragos means to tell someone to go away, to get rid of someone, to send someone packing, or, depending on the tone, to tell someone to get lost.

Examples

Le dije que se fuera a freír espárragos.

I told him to get lost.

Estoy harto de él; lo voy a mandar a freír espárragos.

I'm sick of him; I'm going to send him packing.

Cuando volvió a pedir dinero, lo mandé a freír espárragos.

When he asked for money again, I told him to take a hike.

Déjame en paz y vete a freír espárragos.

Leave me alone and get lost.

It is normally used when someone is annoying, intrusive or unwanted.

Used when

is bothering them
refuses to stop interfering
asks too much
is being deliberately annoying
needs to be told to leave someone alone

Origin

Like many everyday expressions, it took shape in ordinary speech rather than from any single traceable source.

The expression belongs to a family of Spanish euphemistic commands in which someone is sent away to perform an absurd, tedious or irrelevant task.

The idea is that the person should go somewhere else and occupy themselves with something pointless rather than bothering the speaker.

Espárragos ("asparagus") may have been chosen simply because the phrase has a memorable rhythm and because frying asparagus is a mundane activity.

Cultural note

The expression is relatively mild compared with vulgar alternatives such as:

Vete a tomar por culo.

or:

Vete a la mierda.

For this reason, mandar a freír espárragos can be used humorously, even with friends.

It can communicate genuine irritation without necessarily being offensive.

Did you know?

Spanish has an impressive collection of humorous alternatives to simply saying «vete»:

Mandar a freír espárragos → tell someone to get lost.
Mandar a paseo → send someone packing.
Mandar a la porra → tell someone to get lost.
Mandar a tomar viento → tell someone to take a hike.
Mandar a tomar por saco → tell someone to get lost.

Mandar a freír espárragos is one of the least aggressive and most picturesque of the group: instead of insulting the person, you simply give them an absurd culinary assignment somewhere far away. ```

For English speakers

Do not translate:

Te mando a freír espárragos.

as:

I'm sending you to fry asparagus.

That would sound like a genuine culinary instruction.

Instead, depending on the tone, use:

Get lost.

Take a hike.

Go away.

I'm sending you packing.