"llegar y besar"

Question

This site's dictionary shows this phrase in the definition of "llegar" as meaning "no sooner said than done." Is this expression commonly used? The literal translation would be "to arrive and to kiss." This is certainly more interesting than the English expression, but I am curious about its origins.

Also, the definition of "besar" has "llegar y besar el santo" with the same English translation, while the definition of "santo" (saint) translates this phrase as "to get it right at the first attempt," which has quite a different meaning in English.

• Excellent question, I want to know, too! - Valerie Oct 11, 2009
• "I have seen 'dicho y hecho' for 'No sooner said than done' " - Valerie Oct 11, 2009

Answer 1

I found the following explanation:

llegar y besar el santo- conseguir lo que se quiere en el primer intento (to achieve your goal at the first attempt).

And you can find the origin of the phrase here.

Answer 2

There are a lot of phrases for doing something easily in English and this Spanish phrase has probably been translated into several of them. Here's another one:

Aquello fue llegar y besar el santo. - Like taking candy from a baby