No da a basto

Question

I heard this phrase on the news and I don't get it, so I looked it up and saw a few things like this:

La enfermería rojiblanca no da a basto. The red and white sick bay doesn't give enough? Iron Maiden no da a basto con su gira - Iron Maiden doesn't give enough with it's tour.

Does no da a basto mean give enough? What is that a in there? I thought enough was basta and basto was something like "course, rough" so what does this mean? Gracias.

Answer 1

I think what you heard is "No da abasto"

It has the sense of not being able to fulfill the needed.

"El hospital no se da abasto"... The hospital doesn't have enough personnel to cure all the people...

I think you meant to say personnel, not personal. Personnel means employees, manpower or a department that manages employees. Personal in English means how something relates to a specific person. Por ejemplo: That is my personal private bathroom. - sagiia, Oct 25, 2010

Yes... that's what I meant... thanks a lot - Tonyriva, Oct 25, 2010

Answer 2

Yes, either "dar abasto" or "dar(se) abasto" in latin america, and basically means "being able to cope with demand". It is usually employed with "no", to express the idea that you can't cope with demand "no doy abasto".

It probably comes from the old "mercado de abastos", or open-air markets where you could buy food and supplies.

Jeje, en Mexico he visitado un mercado de abasto o algo asi... - bomberapolaca, Oct 25, 2010