Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Pan para hoy, hambre para mañana.»
Word for word
Bread for today, hunger for tomorrow.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: A quick fix today, a bigger problem tomorrow.
Criticizes short-term solutions that create bigger problems later. Used about bad financial decisions, unsustainable policies, or reckless spending.
Hear it in a sentence
Ese préstamo es pan para hoy, hambre para mañana.
That loan is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow.
More Spanish sayings
- Es peor el remedio que la enfermedad. — The cure is worse than the disease.
- Más vale prevenir que curar. — Better safe than sorry.
- Hoy por ti, mañana por mí. — Today you, tomorrow me: we help each other.
- No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy. — Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
- A grandes males, grandes remedios. — Desperate times call for desperate measures.
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.