Tener mucha cara

to have a nerve; **to have a nerve**; **to have some nerve**; **to be shameless**; **to have a lot of cheek** (British English)

Tener mucha cara means to behave with remarkable shamelessness or audacity, especially when trying to obtain an unfair advantage.

The speaker usually criticises someone who asks for too much, breaks social rules or behaves selfishly without feeling embarrassed.

A customer may tener mucha cara by demanding compensation for something that was clearly their own fault.

A colleague may tener mucha cara if they arrive late every day while criticising everyone else.

The expression almost always carries a negative judgement.

• behaves shamelessly
• takes advantage of others
• asks for unreasonable favours
• shows no embarrassment after behaving badly
• acts with surprising audacity

For centuries, the face has symbolised honour, reputation and social dignity in Spanish culture.

Showing one's face meant accepting responsibility.

Losing face meant suffering shame.

From that same symbolic tradition emerged tener mucha cara, where "having a lot of face" came to represent acting without the amount of shame that society expects.

Spanish uses la cara in an extraordinary number of idioms.

Among them are:

• dar la cara
• caérsele la cara de vergüenza
• tener mucha cara
• cara dura

Together, these expressions reveal how deeply the face has become associated with honour, courage and social reputation.

Few parts of the body appear as frequently in Spanish idioms as la cara.

The language uses it to express honour, shame, responsibility, courage and shamelessness.

Learning these related expressions together is one of the easiest ways to understand how Spanish speakers conceptualise social behaviour.

Do not translate the expression literally.

English speakers would not naturally say:

He has a lot of face.

Instead, use expressions such as:

• He's got some nerve.
• She's shameless.
• You've got a lot of cheek.

The tone is usually critical, although friends sometimes use it jokingly.