no tener ni pies ni cabeza: meaning & examples

Meanings:

• 1.

  SpainLatin AmericaneutralMachine
  • Literal: to have neither feet nor head; used literally to describe an object or depiction lacking those parts.

  Examples

  Beta

  • El dibujo del retrato está incompleto; claramente no tiene ni pies ni cabeza.

    The portrait drawing is incomplete; it clearly has neither feet nor head.

  • Encontré una figura antigua en el museo que no tiene ni pies ni cabeza, parece que la parte inferior fue dañada.

    I found an old figure in the museum that has neither feet nor head; it seems the lower part was damaged.

  • La estatua que trajeron para la plaza no tiene ni pies ni cabeza porque le faltan esas piezas.

    The statue they brought for the plaza has neither feet nor head because those parts are missing.

  • ¿Sabías que la pintura surrealista mostraba una criatura sin pies ni cabeza para representar el caos?

    Did you know the surreal painting showed a creature without feet or head to represent chaos?

• 2.

  SpainLatin AmericainformalcolloquialMachine
  • Figurative: to be incoherent, illogical, or make no sense; to lack internal consistency.

  Examples

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  • No entiendo tu argumento, parece que no tiene ni pies ni cabeza.

    I don't understand your argument; it seems to make no sense.

  • Cuando revisé el informe, me di cuenta de que no tenía ni pies ni cabeza, había información contradictoria por todas partes.

    When I reviewed the report, I realized it was incoherent, there was contradictory information everywhere.

  • No voy a seguir discutiendo porque tu explicación no tiene ni pies ni cabeza.

    I'm not going to continue arguing because your explanation is illogical.