Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Los trapos sucios se lavan en casa.»
Word for word
Dirty rags are washed at home.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Don't air your dirty laundry in public.
Said to urge people to keep family or private disputes out of the public eye. Widely used across the Spanish-speaking world as a call for discretion and family loyalty.
Hear it in a sentence
No discutamos delante de los vecinos; los trapos sucios se lavan en casa.
Let's not argue in front of the neighbors; dirty laundry is washed at home.
More Spanish sayings
- A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando. — Pray to God but keep rowing to shore.
- El que paga, manda. — He who pays the piper calls the tune.
- Un clavo saca otro clavo. — One nail drives out another.
- Con dinero baila el perro. — Money makes the world go round.
- Dios los cría y ellos se juntan. — Birds of a feather flock together.
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.