sacar el ascua con mano ajena: meaning & examples

Meanings:

• 1.

  General Spanishliteral
  • To remove or take an ember (hot coal) using another person's hand.

  Examples

  Beta

  • Me pidió que sacara el ascua con mano ajena para no quemarme las manos.

    He asked me to remove the ember using someone else's hand so I wouldn't burn my hands.

  • Durante la fogata, saqué el ascua con mano ajena para no lastimarme con el carbón caliente.

    During the bonfire, I took the ember with someone else's hand to avoid hurting myself with the hot coal.

  • No hay problema en sacar el ascua con mano ajena si así evitamos accidentes.

    There’s no problem in removing the ember with someone else's hand if that avoids accidents.

  • Anoche saqué el ascua con mano ajena porque estaba demasiado caliente para mis manos.

    Last night I removed the ember using another person's hand because it was too hot for mine.

• 2.

  General SpanishSpainLatin Americaproverbialcolloquial
  • To have someone else perform a risky or unpleasant action for you; to shift risk, blame, or undesirable duties onto another person.

  Examples

  Beta

  • No deberías sacar el ascua con mano ajena para evitar responsabilidades en el proyecto.

    You shouldn't have someone else take the blame to avoid responsibilities in the project.

  • El político acostumbraba a sacar el ascua con mano ajena cuando había escándalos.

    The politician used to shift the blame onto others when there were scandals.

  • ¿Por qué quieres sacar el ascua con mano ajena en esta situación complicada?

    Why do you want someone else to take the risk in this complicated situation?