Pintar bastos
backFor clubs to be the trump suit.
things are looking bad; **things are looking bad**; **things are looking grim**; **the outlook is bleak**; **we're in for a rough time**; **trouble is brewing**
Pintar bastos, especially in the expression pintan bastos, means that things are looking bad, the situation is difficult, or trouble is likely to be coming.
Con esta crisis, pintan bastos.
Things are looking grim with this crisis.
Si no conseguimos financiación, pintan bastos.
If we don't get funding, we're in for a rough time.
Para el equipo pintan bastos este año.
Things are looking bad for the team this year.
No parece que vaya a mejorar la situación; pintan bastos.
It doesn't look like the situation is going to improve; things are looking grim.
It is used when the outlook is unfavourable or worrying.
- a situation is becoming difficult
- problems are expected
- circumstances are unfavourable
- the future looks uncertain or worrying
- someone is facing a difficult period
The expression comes from Spanish card games.
In traditional card terminology, the verb pintar means that a particular suit is designated as the trump suit.
Thus, when a player says:
Pintan bastos.
the literal meaning is that clubs are the suit that has been designated as trump.
The expression subsequently acquired a figurative meaning because bastos became associated with an unfavourable or difficult situation.
The expression is normally used in the plural:
Pintan bastos.
It is very similar in structure to:
La cosa pinta mal.
But pintan bastos has a more colourful and idiomatic character because it preserves the old vocabulary of Spanish card games.
The expression does not necessarily mean that disaster is certain. It usually means that the circumstances suggest difficulties ahead.
Spanish has preserved a surprising number of expressions from card games and gambling:
- Pintan bastos → things are looking grim.
- Ir de farol → to bluff.
- Tirarse un farol → to make a bluff.
- Tener un as en la manga → to have an ace up one's sleeve.
- Jugar sus cartas → to play one's cards.
- Poner las cartas sobre la mesa → to put one's cards on the table.
In pintan bastos, an old technical meaning of pintar from card playing has survived almost unchanged inside a modern figurative expression.
Do not translate:
Pintan bastos.
as:
Clubs are painting.
Instead, use:
Things are looking bad.
Things are looking grim.
We're in for a rough time.
The literal card-game meaning of pintar is also important: here it does not mean ordinary "to paint".
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