Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Ladrón que roba a ladrón tiene cien años de perdón.»
Word for word
A thief who steals from a thief has a hundred years of pardon.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Robbing a thief is no crime.
Used jokingly or cynically to justify cheating someone who is themselves dishonest. Common across the Spanish-speaking world, often said with a wink when someone gets a small revenge on a crook.
Hear it in a sentence
Le estafó al estafador y luego dijo: «Ladrón que roba a ladrón tiene cien años de perdón».
He scammed the scammer and then said: "A thief who robs a thief gets a hundred years of pardon."
More Spanish sayings
- Cree el ladrón que todos son de su condición. — A thief thinks everyone steals.
- Sarna con gusto no pica. — A labor of love is no burden.
- Con dinero baila el perro. — Money makes the world go round.
- Quien tiene boca se equivoca. — To err is human.
- Poco a poco se anda lejos. — Little by little, one goes far.
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 level.