Llegar y besar al santo

[ROBINDESBOIS]

When someone arrives at a place, I doesn´t have to wait, because he does what he intended to 1st thing, we say, llegar y besar el santo.
English?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

When someone arrives at a place, I doesn´t have to wait, because he does what he intended to 1st thing, we say, llegar y besar el santo.
English?

I don't.
I don't quite understand. Give an example.

[EmpanadaRica]

Hmmm not sure either.

Maybe Robin means like someone getting/ coming straight to business?

To cut to the chase? Something like this?

cut to the chase (informal)
to talk about or deal with the important parts of a subject and not waste time with things that are not important I didn't have long to talk to him so I cut to the chase and asked whether he was still married.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut+to+the+chase

[laepelba]

Maybe something like "get right down to business"?

[irmamar]

Not exactly. It is used when somebody is successful at the first attempt. For instance, you're playing with a slot machine, but you don't earn any money and stop playing. Then, somebody goes to the machine, inserts a coin and earns a lot of money: llegó y besó al santo.

Another example: you go to a foreigner country. The first day you are there, someone offers you a very good job: llegaste y besaste al santo.

I guess its origin is due to the congregation, when they wanted to give a kiss to the image of a Saint. They used to wait for a long time in a queue until they arrived to the image. If someone was able to arrive to the image without waiting in the queue, because at that moment there weren't so much people waiting, él llegó y besó al santo.

[Perikles]

Thanks. I can't think of anything equivalent in English.

[Rusty]

If we're going shopping, and we go right to the item we're after and are able to get right out without waiting in line, we say:
I was in and out (in a flash).

'I got right in' can be used in many contexts, especially if there's no waiting in line.
At the supermarket: I got right in and out.
At the soccer match: We got right in, and had plenty of time to visit and buy concessions before the game started.

'First try', or 'first attempt (more formal)', would be used in the case of the slot machine. 'I won the jackpot on my first try.' You could also say 'I won the jackpot first thing.'
'First thing' usually implies 'without a wait, or directly'. We got there first thing (in the morning). (We were first to arrive. We went nowhere else first.)

If you were to move to a foreign country and immediately land a job, that would be considered a piece of good fortune/luck, and you could describe it as a windfall.

[EmpanadaRica]

Interesting expression.

Perhaps you could also say 'to get lucky' (eventhough this is obviously often used predominantly in sexual contexts.. .. also it kind of lacks the 'right away/ straight away' component, but I guess you could say ' I got lucky right away'.)

It's interesting because the example Robin gave implied that the person who 'llegó y besó al santo' has some kind of 'control' i.e. like he or she can determine the outcome, whereas what irma describes seems to me to be more about good fortune or luck.

In which of the contexts is it more frequently used, or is it used in both?


PS Would this also be used in the context of e.g. '(Lying down on) a bed of roses' ? Or is there another expression in Spanish that would be more suitable?

bed of roses
n. A state of great comfort or luxury.

: a place or situation of agreeable ease

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Originally Posted by EmpanadaRica

Interesting expression.

'to get lucky' (eventhough this is obviously often used predominantly in sexual contexts.. .. also it kind of lacks the 'right away/ straight away' component, but I guess you could say ' I got lucky right away'.)
this can also be used in Spanish, I mean in sexual contexts.

who 'llegó y besó al santo' has some kind of 'control' (There is no control it´s more a question of luck ) sorry if I didn´t express myself well enough. In which of the contexts is it more frequently used, or is it used in both?


PS Would this also be used in the context of e.g. '(Lying down on) a bed of roses' ? Or is there another expression in Spanish that would be more suitable?

It´s used in every context.

[EmpanadaRica]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

It´s used in every context.

¡Está bien, gracias Robin!