dar la vara

1.
Spain (chiefly)Latin America (less common)colloquialinformal
- To pester, nag, or bother someone persistently by repeatedly bringing up a subject or making demands.
2.
Spain (chiefly)Latin America (less common)colloquialinformal
- To bore others with long, repetitive moralizing, lecturing, or proselytizing about a particular topic.
3.
SpainLatin Americacolloquialinformalthreatening
- To threaten or give someone a hard time; in some contexts used as a mild threat of physical punishment or confrontation (context-dependent).

Examples:

ES: ¡No dejas de dar la vara con lo de tus padres!
EN: You've pissed us off about your parents forever!
ES: - Deja de dar la vara.
EN: - Don't be disgusting.
ES: Que no sabe si es que está loco, o si es un tío aburrido que nos viene a dar la vara.
EN: He just can't figure out whether you're crazy, or if you're just a dull bore trying to give us a hard time.
ES: Estos fulanos siempre tienen que dar la vara.
EN: Man, them dudes always tryin' to get into somethin' up here.
ES: Es hora de dar la vara de mi vejez un poco de diversión.
EN: Time to give the rod of my old age some fun.
ES: Una de las últimas veces que salí contigo, paseábamos por ahí... y fuiste a por una anciana en la calle... y empezaste a dar la vara con su vida espiritual... ella se asustó y amenazó con llamar a la policía.
EN: One of the last times I went out with you, we were walking around... and you just went up to some old lady on the street... and started, like, drilling her about her spiritual life. And she just got really frightened and threatened to call the police.
ES: Deja de dar la vara con los blancos.
EN: Ease off with that "white people" stuff. You got me looking at 'em funny.
ES: - Te voy a dar la vara.
EN: I'm gonna give you the stick.
ES: No es por dar la vara con el Titanic, pero hay unas buenas lecciones que recopilar.
EN: Not to harp on the titanic, But there are solid lessons to be gleaned there.
ES: Dime qué quieres que haga y te dejo de dar la vara.
EN: Tell me what you want, and I'll do that.
ES: ¡Dejar de dar la vara!
EN: If only you were a bit smarter, you'd... Will you shut it!
ES: No te quiero dar la vara con lo de ser jueza.
EN: I'm not gonna hassle you about being a judge for the new TV show.
ES: Deja de dar la vara.
EN: See, you keep harping on the wrong thing here.

Language: es

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