A hurtadillas
Entrar o salir a hurtadillas es una expresión que suelo leer con frecuencia. ¿La has oído alguna vez y sabes qué significa?
Have you heard this expression before and can you offer an equivalent in English?
4 Answers
La expresión "a hurtadillas" indica que una cosa se hace de manera secreta para no ser visto por otras personas.
The expression " a hurtadillas" means that an action is done in a secretive way, without being seen by other people.
It is also interesting to see what the Real Academia Español site dictionary says about the origin of hurtadillas
(Del antigua. hurtada, hurto, y este de hurtar).
a ~.
- loc. adv. Furtivamente, sin que nadie lo note.
The verb "hurtar" (= robar) means to steal.
My Collins dictionary gives no particular meaning for "hurtadillas" except with the preposition "a" as in your expression. With "a", "a hurtadillas" means stealthily or (and I like this
on the sly. Yes, I like "on the sly" very much!
Here is the English to Spanish for "sly"
sly [sla? ] ADJ (COMPAR slyer SUPERL slyest)
1 (= wily) [person] astuto, taimado
He's a sly one! ¡Es un zorro!
2 (= mischievous)
[person] pícaro, travieso
[look, smile] pícaro, malicioso
N
on the sly* a hurtadillas, a escondidas
In fact, I checked another dictionary - my Gran Diccionario Oxford. In that reference, the writer has used your very sentence as the example sentence:
hurtadillas, femenino plural:
entrar/salir a hurtadillas --> to sneak in/out
What about "furtively"?
"He entered (came into, went into) the room furtively." "He left the room furtively".
Or, with those two verbs, you might take a verb that includes that adverbial concept..."He slipped into (out of) the room"
