Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«Antes se coge al mentiroso que al cojo.»

Word for word

Sooner one catches the liar than the lame.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: A liar is caught sooner than a lame man.

Used to say that lies are eventually discovered. Common as a warning to people who think they can get away with deceiving others.

Hear it in a sentence

No sigas mintiendo, porque antes se coge al mentiroso que al cojo.

Stop lying, because a liar is caught sooner than a lame man.

Why learn dichos?

Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.

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