lost for words

April 16, 2011 4:51 PM

Spanish idiom filter: I'm looking for a spanish idiom/phrase meaning something far away from civilisation. It went something like: ahi donde el jesu christo something.any ideas?
posted by freddymetz to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

donde jesucristo perdió las sandalias (where jesus christ lost his sandals)

there are many other versions, like donde jesucristo perdió los clavos (the nails)
posted by valdesm at 4:59 PM on April 16, 2011

Best answer: GWIW, here in Madrid, we often say "donde Cristo perdió el gorro" (where Christ lost his hat).
posted by doctorpiorno at 5:51 PM on April 16, 2011

I think there are several variations on what Cristo lost, I've heard also el mechero, las alpargatas, la gabardina, los clavos, las zapatillas and even la virgindad. Seems to vary a lot from place to place in the Spanish speaking world.

[Other colorful idioms you might enjoy that are used around here in Argentina: "donde el Diablo perdió el poncho", "en la loma del culo" (this one obviously not meant to be used in prudish company).]
posted by Iosephus at 7:03 PM on April 16, 2011

One that my Guatemalan granny passed on to me was "Hasta por alla en las chifurnias..."

I couldn't possibly tell you what "chifurnias" means, but it makes me giggle every time I think of it.
posted by arishaun at 1:54 AM on April 17, 2011

Sounds similar to the Italian Cristo si è fermato a Eboli.
posted by mono blanco at 2:05 AM on April 17, 2011

Definitely heard this in English ("where Jesus lost his shoes"), and I found a 1994 Judy Markey column where she calls it a "weird family saying".
posted by dhartung at 11:50 AM on April 17, 2011

In Chile: 'donde el Diablo perdió el poncho'.
posted by signal at 11:20 AM on April 19, 2011