Tirar la piedra y esconder la mano
To throw the stone and hide the hand.
to throw a stone and hide one's hand; **to throw a stone and hide one's hand**; **to stir up trouble and then deny it**; **to play innocent after causing trouble**; **to provoke and then pretend innocence**; **to cause trouble from the shadows**
Tirar la piedra y esconder la mano means to stir up trouble and then deny responsibility, to throw a stone and hide one's hand, to provoke something and then pretend innocence, or to cause harm while avoiding blame.
Siempre tira la piedra y esconde la mano.
He's always stirring up trouble and then pretending to be innocent.
No puedes tirar la piedra y esconder la mano.
You can't cause the problem and then deny responsibility.
Fue él quien empezó todo y luego tiró la piedra y escondió la mano.
He started the whole thing and then acted as if he had nothing to do with it.
Deja de tirar la piedra y esconder la mano y reconoce lo que has hecho.
Stop pretending you're innocent and admit what you've done.
It refers to acting in a harmful way while pretending not to have been involved.
- starts an argument and then denies responsibility
- spreads rumours anonymously
- provokes conflict while pretending innocence
- criticises others indirectly
- causes problems and lets someone else take the blame
The expression comes directly from the obvious image of someone throwing a stone at another person and immediately hiding their hand to avoid being identified.
The metaphor is very old and appears in various forms throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
Because of its visual simplicity, its meaning is immediately understood even by children.
The expression strongly criticises hypocrisy and cowardice.
It suggests that someone lacks the courage to accept the consequences of their own actions.
For this reason, it is frequently used in political debates, workplace conflicts and family arguments.
Spanish has several expressions describing people who avoid responsibility after causing problems:
- Tirar la piedra y esconder la mano → to provoke and then deny responsibility.
- Escurrir el bulto → to dodge responsibility.
- Lavarse las manos → to wash one's hands of something.
- Pasar la pelota → to pass the responsibility to someone else.
Among them, tirar la piedra y esconder la mano is one of the most vivid because it combines the harmful action with the immediate attempt to conceal the culprit, making the hypocrisy unmistakable.
Do not translate the expression word for word unless your audience is familiar with the idiom.
More natural English translations are:
- to stir up trouble and then deny it
- to play innocent
- to provoke and then pretend nothing happened
- to cause trouble while avoiding responsibility
These convey the intended meaning more naturally in everyday English.
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