Las in arreglárselas

[Nfqufktc]

Hello,

Would you explain what the object pronoun las refers to in the expression arreglárselas (para hacer algo)?
I would venture a guess that, being a feminine pronoun, it refers to “cosas” but then, why is it not the masculine pronoun los (asuntos)?
Is there a semantic/grammatical explanation for this preference?

In other examples it is always las:
Apañarmelas por mi cuenta. (Myself comes first).
Se las pinta solo para engañar a los clientes (He's a past master at cheating his clients). ~He can manage (things) alone (in order) to cheat his customers.

I would be grateful for clarifying the point for me.

[aleCcowaN]

It's what's called a lexicalized pronoun, something that specifies the meaning of the verb. There are hundreds of them in Spanish, even thousands when you include all the local instances.

Sometimes the pronoun loosely suggests some noun or subject, and sometimes the gender doesn't matter, like in pasarla bien and pasarlo bien, where the important thing is enjoying yourself doing something and not just spend or even kill time doing something

Arreglárselas y apañárselas seem very similar to me, and las add.just the notion of the subject being completely efficient to reach the result. I think it like "he did it by himself"and "he did it all by himself"

The other one, I'm not a 100% sure, because is not that current where I live.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

In Mexico we say "alguien se pinta solo", rather than "pintárselas solo", but i think the expression is the same.
All three expressions mean that someone has the necessary capabilities to do something, to solve a problem, to get something they want.

- Me detuvo la policía por ir demasiado rápido, pero me las arreglé para que me dejaran ir. -> I used all my charm and managed to convince the police to let me go.
- En temporada de sequía, hay que apañárselas para regar los cultivos sin desperdiciar agua. -> One has to use water more efficiently when there's a draught.
- No importa que Juan esté castigado. Él se pinta solo para llegar a las fiestas. -> Juan always gets away with his will to go to a party, even if he's grounded.

[Nfqufktc]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

It's what's called a lexicalized pronoun, something that specifies the meaning of the verb.

Thank you, aleCcowaN.

[Nfqufktc]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

In Mexico we say "alguien se pinta solo"

Thank you, AngelicaDeAlquezar.