Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«No hay que buscarle tres pies al gato.»
Word for word
One should not look for three feet on the cat.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Don't overcomplicate things.
Used to tell someone to stop overanalyzing or finding problems where there are none. Very common in colloquial Spanish, especially in Spain and Mexico.
Hear it in a sentence
El plan es sencillo, no hay que buscarle tres pies al gato.
The plan is simple, don't overcomplicate things.
More Spanish sayings
- Éramos pocos y parió la abuela. — As if we didn't have enough problems already.
- Zapatero, a tus zapatos. — Stick to what you know.
- Miente más que habla. — He lies more than he talks.
- El que mucho abarca, poco aprieta. — Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
- No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver. — None so blind as those who will not see.
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.