Poner por las nubes
To put someone/something up in the clouds.
to praise someone to the skies; **to praise someone to the skies**; **to sing someone's praises**; **to rave about someone/something**; **to put someone on a pedestal**; **to send prices through the roof**; **to drive prices sky-high**; **to make prices soar**
Poner por las nubes has two main meanings:
Puso a su hijo por las nubes.
He praised his son to the skies.
Todo el mundo pone esta novela por las nubes.
Everyone is raving about this novel.
Mi jefe me puso por las nubes delante de todos.
My boss sang my praises in front of everyone.
La inflación ha puesto los precios por las nubes.
Inflation has sent prices through the roof.
Los precios de los pisos están por las nubes.
House prices are sky-high.
- To praise someone or something very highly, sometimes excessively.
- To make or have a price become extremely high.
The context tells you which meaning is intended.
- praises a person enthusiastically
- speaks extremely highly of a book, film, restaurant or product
- exaggerates someone's qualities
- complains that prices are extremely high
- causes the price of something to rise dramatically
The expression is based on the simple metaphor of elevation.
To put something por las nubes is to raise it so high that it reaches the clouds.
The metaphor developed naturally in two directions:
- raising someone's reputation → praising them enormously;
- raising a price → making it extremely expensive.
The expression therefore belongs to a broader group of Spanish idioms in which height represents intensity or excess.
It is important to distinguish:
Poner a alguien por las nubes.
from:
Estar algo por las nubes.
The first normally means to praise someone excessively:
Puso a su jefe por las nubes.
→ He sang his boss's praises.
The second usually refers to very high prices or levels:
Los alquileres están por las nubes.
→ Rents are through the roof.
Spanish often uses vertical height to express intensity:
- Poner por las nubes → praise enormously / raise prices enormously.
- Estar por las nubes → be extremely high.
- Subirse por las paredes → become extremely angry or anxious.
- Estar hasta arriba → be completely full or overwhelmed.
- Venirse abajo → collapse emotionally or metaphorically.
The higher something goes, the more extreme it becomes. ```
The English translation depends strongly on the meaning.
For praise:
Poner a alguien por las nubes.
→ to praise someone to the skies
For prices:
Los precios están por las nubes.
→ Prices are through the roof.
Do not always translate nubes as clouds: English uses the equivalent metaphor of the sky.
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