"Dar en la nuca como los conejos"

Question

¿Que significa la frase "Dar en la nuca como los conejos"?

Answer 1

Like Annie said, it means to slaughter a rabbit by giving them a sharp hit on the nape first, which would render them unconscious and, thus minimize the pain during the process. I have never heard this expression before nor could I vouch for the procedure since I have never sacrificed an animal in my life.

Any idiomatic implications of this phrase are unknown to me.

The full sentence is: "Nos dieran en la nuca como a los conejos". Therefore i suppose that there is some idiomatic implication. - Djuka, Jan 10, 2013

Oh OK. So I guess backstabbing or betrayal would be in order. Thanks for the clarification! - francobollo, Jan 10, 2013

I was sort of guessing, Franco. I think that's how you would dispose of a rabbit you had shot, but not killed outright. - annierats, Jan 11, 2013

Answer 2

The form dieran is the imperfect subjunctive. Did you mean to write the preterite: dieron.

I'm not a native speaker like francobollo, but if this is some sort of idiom it may have to do with something one used to see in old TV series when men would fight and give "karate chops" to the back of the neck. I am only guessing here and maybe we need even more context of this sentence.

I agree that "Nos dieran en la nuca como a los conejos" should be preceded by another phrase, such as Temíamos que / No queríamos esperar a que... - francobollo, Jan 10, 2013

This is true. In sentence before other speaker say: "Lo siento que..." - Djuka, Jan 11, 2013

Classic subjunctive, most satisfactory. - annierats, Jan 11, 2013

Answer 3

A guess:

Give them a sharp blow to the back of the neck, as you do with rabbits ( to kill them).

Does this make any sense in your context?

No, I think is more like "backstabbing naive persons" or "doing something behind back of naive persons". - Djuka, Jan 10, 2013

But i'm not so sure. - Djuka, Jan 10, 2013

Yes, it could well be a saying to that effect, couldn't it. Bet you're right. Backstabbing! - annierats, Jan 10, 2013