Liberated things
 

Hi,

According to Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary:

liberate ...
...

5. Slang. to steal or take over illegally: The soldiers liberated a consignment of cigarettes.

The idea is to make the spoils of war, looting, pillaging, etc. sound less barbaric.

Are there appropriate euphemisms in Spanish?

Something less straightforward than saquear, botín, etc.

There's lots, and many start with the letter P. Pillar, pifiar, pinchar, apañar. I have heard hacer una comprita:rolleyes:

I'm having a hard time finding an euphemism. Poli's examples all imply stealing, except "hacer una comprita", which I'd never heard before, but it's fabulous! I love it. :D

In some old newspapers you may find "apoderarse de lo ajeno" (to seize what is not yours), and about common thieves, you may find "amante de lo ajeno" (a fancier of what is not theirs).

Someone around me is suggesting these expressions (they might not be too common):
· Hacerse con algo (not slang; to get something by means of a ruse or to steal it)
- Me hice con los documentos para que nadie los encontrara. (I managed to conceal the documents and took them away with me so nobody would find them.)
- Los asaltantes se hicieron con las armas de los policías y se escaparon. (The robbers managed to deprive the cops from their arms.)

· Bailarle algo a alguien (slang; to steal without you noticing or to swindle someone out of something)
- Me bailaron el celular en el autobús. (I didn't notice when they stole my phone.)
- A José sus hermanos le bailaron su herencia. (The siblings cheated to get José's part of the inheritance.)

· Limpiar (slang; to "cleanse")
- El ejército pasó por el pueblo y lo "limpiaron". (They took everything with them.)
- A Pedro le dejaron limpia la cuenta del banco. (Pedro's bank account was hacked and they stole all his money.)
- Me asaltaron en el callejón y me dejaron limpio. (I was robbed in the alley and they left nothing on me.)

You might be able to use decomisar (to seize, confiscate) for this, but that might not convey the fact that they are stealing. Another slang way of talking about stealing is volarse algo, but that might be limited to Mexico.