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Abrir el paraguas

/ah-BREER el pah-RAH-gwass/

To make excuses or take precautions in advance to avoid future blame or problems.

Level:B2Register:NeutralCommon:★★★★☆

💡 Understanding the Idiom

Literal Translation:
"To open the umbrella"
What It Really Means:
To make excuses or take precautions in advance to avoid future blame or problems.
English Equivalents:
To cover your backTo make excuses in advanceTo play it safeTo hedge your bets

🎨 Literal vs. Figurative

💭 Literal
A literal depiction of 'abrir el paraguas', showing a person opening an umbrella indoors on a sunny day.

Literally, this means 'to open the umbrella'.

✨ Figurative
The figurative meaning of 'abrir el paraguas', showing someone in a meeting preemptively explaining why a project might fail.

Figuratively, it means making excuses in advance to avoid future blame.

Key Words in This Idiom:

abrirparaguas

📝 In Action

Antes de presentar el proyecto, abrió el paraguas diciendo que no tuvo suficiente tiempo.

B2

Before presenting the project, he made excuses in advance, saying he didn't have enough time.

No abras el paraguas antes de que llueva. ¡Confía en que todo saldrá bien!

B2

Don't get defensive before anything even happens. Trust that everything will turn out fine!

📜 Origin Story

The origin of this idiom is a straightforward and logical metaphor. Just as you open an umbrella to protect yourself from the rain (a future problem), 'abrir el paraguas' means to protect yourself from future blame or criticism. It's the act of creating a verbal shield before the 'storm' of negative consequences arrives.

⭐ Usage Tips

Protecting Yourself from Future Blame

Use this idiom when someone is making preemptive excuses or justifications. It often carries a slightly negative connotation, suggesting the person is avoiding responsibility rather than solving a problem directly. It's very common in work environments or politics.

❌ Common Pitfalls

It's Not About the Weather

Mistake: "Using it when you are literally talking about opening an umbrella for rain."

Correction: This phrase is almost always used figuratively. If you mean to open a real umbrella, just say 'Voy a abrir el paraguas porque está lloviendo'. Using the idiom for actual rain would sound strange to a native speaker.

🌎 Where It's Used

🇪🇸

Spain

Extremely common and widely used in all contexts, from personal to professional.

🌎

Latin America

Understood and used, particularly in the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay), but might be less common than other local expressions in some Caribbean or Central American countries.

🔗 Related Idioms

↔️Similar Meanings

curarse en salud

To play it safe, to take precautions (literally 'to cure oneself in health').

ponerse la venda antes de la herida

To be overly cautious or defensive (literally 'to put on the bandage before the wound').

⇆Opposite Meanings

apechugar con las consecuencias

To face the consequences.

✏️ Quick Practice

💡 Quick Quiz: Abrir el paraguas

Question 1 of 1

If your boss says, 'No abras el paraguas todavía', what are they telling you to do?

🏷️ Tags

WeatherCommonly UsedProblemsWork & Business

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 'abrir el paraguas' always negative?

Not always, but it often implies that someone is being overly defensive or trying to avoid future responsibility. It can be used neutrally to mean 'taking sensible precautions,' but more commonly it has a slightly critical tone.