no haber inventado la pólvora: meaning & examples

Meanings:

• 1.

  All Spanish-speaking regionsneutralMachine
  • To have not invented gunpowder; a literal statement that someone did not create or discover gunpowder.

  Examples

  Beta

  • No haber inventado la pólvora no le quita mérito, pero su idea no es nada revolucionaria.

    Not having invented gunpowder doesn’t take away credit, but his idea is nothing revolutionary.

  • Este científico no inventó la pólvora, pero sus aportes a la medicina son muy valiosos.

    This scientist didn’t invent gunpowder, but his contributions to medicine are very valuable.

  • Aunque no haya inventado la pólvora, su descubrimiento ayudó a mejorar la tecnología existente.

    Although he didn’t invent gunpowder, his discovery helped improve existing technology.

  • No haber inventado la pólvora no significa que no sea un innovador en su campo de trabajo.

    Not having invented gunpowder doesn’t mean he’s not an innovator in his field of work.

• 2.

  All Spanish-speaking regionscolloquialpejorativeMachine
  • To be not particularly original, ingenious, or clever; to offer nothing new or remarkable (equivalent to 'not the inventor of the wheel').

  Examples

  Beta

  • No ha inventado la pólvora con esa propuesta, es una idea que ya se ha visto antes varias veces.

    He hasn’t invented gunpowder with that proposal; it’s an idea that has been seen several times before.

  • No esperes algo original de ella, no ha inventado la pólvora y siempre repite lo mismo.

    Don’t expect anything original from her; she hasn’t invented gunpowder and always repeats the same.

  • En realidad, no ha inventado la pólvora con su método, simplemente ha aplicado técnicas conocidas.

    Actually, he hasn’t invented gunpowder with his method; he has simply applied known techniques.