hacer el payaso
/aθeɾ el paʝaso/from spelling rules
To clown it in Spanish is hacer el payaso.
This phrase is used to describe someone acting in a silly or foolish way to make others laugh. Depending on the context, it can be used positively to describe someone being funny for entertainment or negatively to criticize someone for acting foolishly or inappropriately.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase is an infinitive construction. While the phrase itself does not change based on the subject, you must conjugate the verb hacer to use it in a sentence, such as él hace el payaso.
How do you pronounce it?
/aθeɾ el paʝaso/
Did you know?
- The word payaso shares a common ancestor with the English word 'pallet'. Both words trace back to the Latin word for 'chaff' or 'straw', referring to the straw-stuffed costumes early clowns wore.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, calling someone a payaso can be a sharper insult than the English 'clown', implying the person is untrustworthy or lacks dignity.
- While hacer el payaso describes the act of clowning, Spanish has a specific noun payasada to describe the individual prank or foolish stunt itself.
Examples in context
- ¿Por qué siempre tienes que hacer el payaso cuando salimos juntos?Why do you always have to clown it when we go out together?
- ¡Deja de hacer el payaso y compórtate!Stop clowning around and behave!
- Él siempre quiere hacer el payaso para llamar la atención.He always wants to clown it up to get attention.
- Deja de hacer el payaso y ponte a trabajar.Stop clowning it up and get to work.
Example conversation
At a family dinner, a younger brother is being silly.
- Elena¡Deja de hacer el payaso, Alejandro!Stop clowning it up, Alejandro!
- AlejandroSolo estoy intentando que la familia se ría.I'm just trying to make the family laugh.
- ElenaPero estás molestando a todo el mundo.But you are bothering everyone.
- AlejandroEstá bien, seré serio ahora.Fine, I'll be serious now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries el, hacer, payaso, CC BY-SA 4.0.
