to drop a chalupa
- idiom
- Slang
:
dejar caer algo
- During dinner, she actually dropped a chalupa right onto her new white shirt.
Examples
-
He tried to impress everyone at the party, but ended up dropping a chalupa in front of his boss.
-
Every time there's a big game, someone manages to drop a chalupa and cost their team the win.
-
Don't drop a chalupa on the floor!
-
She always dropped a chalupa when she was nervous.
-
At the picnic, Mark dropped a chalupa on the ground and everyone laughed.
-
During the crucial moment in the match, the player dropped a chalupa that led to their defeat.
-
She was so nervous during her presentation that she dropped a chalupa in front of everyone.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To let something fall suddenly or by accident
641
6.3
To make a mistake that ruins what you are doing
347
1.0
To accidentally cause liquid to flow out of a container
295
3.0
To forget something by accident
48
3.0
To hesitate or make a small mistake when speaking
38
6.1
Fail to do something you are responsible for
27
4.1
To make a small careless mistake
19
3.5
To do something clumsily and make a mistake
7
4.4
To make a careless mistake by acting or speaking without thinking
2
5.9
To handle something clumsily so you nearly drop it
1
4.2
Do something that is a serious and embarrassing mistake
To make a serious, embarrassing mistake by being careless
To do something small and silly by accident
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
drop + a + chalupa
If a learner knows 'drop' (to let fall) and 'chalupa' (a food), they will readily infer the literal meaning 'to accidentally drop the food.' However, the extended idiomatic sense 'to make a significant mistake' is a metaphorical extension not directly predictable from the constituents and would typically require prior exposure, so the expression is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Drop a chalupa may come from the simple image of someone holding a crunchy Mexican shell, a chalupa, and accidentally dropping it so the filling and sauce spill everywhere. That's why people use it to mean 'to drop food accidentally' or, more often, 'to make a big mistake' in front of others.