dar chocolate mañanero

English translation: to give someone a (morning) drubbing / to throw someone under a bus

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	dar chocolate (mañanero )
English translation:	to give someone a (morning) drubbing / to throw someone under a bus
Entered by:	María Teresa Taylor Oliver

19:09 Apr 11, 2019

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Slang / Mexican Spanish

Spanish term or phrase: dar chocolate mañanero

I'm translating an opinion column from Mexico regarding the apparent "mistreatment" by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) of his undersecretary of finance, as he seems to be "dismissing" or "overruling" the latter any chance he gets: https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/opinion/El-presidente-AMLO-y...

Is "dar chocolate mañanero" a Mexican expression? I'm thinking the mañanero part is probably because AMLO gives a speech every morning, but what about the "dar chocolate" part?

I've heard of "pedir cacao" but not this one! Please help.

Thanks in advance!

"Herrera repitió argumentos que han hecho otros funcionarios de Hacienda, desde hace varios sexenios. En teoría, su mensaje ante los diputados no contradice el compromiso de AMLO de no subir impuestos, porque los prediales y las tenencias son un asunto local y la decisión no la debe tomar el gobierno federal. Sus opiniones fueron tomadas en serio por muchos medios, incluyendo El Economista que le dio la nota principal de portada. Eso quizá molestó al presidente que le *********** dio chocolate mañanero *********** al subsecretario. Dijo: “ayer salió la noticia de que se iba a restablecer el impuesto de la Tenencia. Eso no es cierto, eso es lo que quisieran nuestros adversarios, que nosotros incumpliéramos nuestros compromisos”. Ahí estaba Arturo Herrera, en la mañanera, cuando el presidente hablaba de los adversarios."

María Teresa Taylor Oliver KudoZ activity Questions: 1071 (1 open) (3 without valid answers) (21 closed without grading) Answers: 2101 Panama
Local time: 21:11

gave him a morning drubbing

Explanation:
"Dar chocolate" is apparently a baseball expression in Mexico, applied to a pitcher, meaning to strike out a batter, also called "ponchar" ("ponchar: en el juego del beisbol, poner out a un bateador o a un corredor", https://dem.colmex.mx/ ).

"¿Porqué se dice "le dieron chocolate" a quien ponchan en baseball?"
https://mx.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200704030758...

"El triunfo para los Prejuniors, comandados por Jesús Nevárez, fue más holgado al terminar con la pizarra de 6-2, para darle el triunfo al pitcher César Márquez quien le dio chocolate a nueve rivales gracias a sus serpentinas. "
https://www.elsiglodedurango.com.mx/noticia/249268.durango-g...

"El pitcher ganador fue Ivan Gutiérrez Granados, quien ponchó a 13 bateadores. El perdedor fue César Espinoza, pero alcanzó a dar "chocolate" a nueve peloteros."
http://www1.ucol.mx/hemeroteca/pdfs/180795.pdf (p. 12)http://www1.ucol.mx/hemeroteca/pdfs/180795.pdf

I've also found it applied to football, by a Peruvian player:

"Además, Jefferson Farfán habló del partido de la selección peruana ante Venezuela. "Tenemos que dar chocolate en el partido, mucho chocolate", aseguró el delantero nacional."
https://elcomercio.pe/deporte-total/seleccion/jefferson-farf...

So if you want to retain the baseball metaphor you could say "gave him a morning strikeout", though I'm not sure whether readers would get it. Or perhaps a "drubbing", which can mean a decisive defeat in sports or severe criticism.

Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 04:11

Grading comment

Thanks, Charles! When it comes to sports, I confess I'm like Jon Snow, I know nothing! :P
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +6

gave him a morning drubbing

Charles Davis

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

51 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

gave him a morning drubbing

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 04:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 64

Grading comment

Thanks, Charles! When it comes to sports, I confess I'm like Jon Snow, I know nothing! :P

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Adrian MM.: Funnily enough, I was just about to post: 'give him a morning mugful'..... (vs. earful) but had wondered whether it would work.//.... a mouthful then.

40 mins

-> Thanks, Adrian. A pretty obscure expression. // I meant that "dar chocolate" is an obscure expression! "Mugful" is clear as day by comparison. After all, Juan is Mexican and doesn't know what it means.

agree

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro

46 mins

-> Gracias y saludos, Bea :-)

agree

JohnMcDove: Maestro, nos das "sopas con honda"..., ;-)) Un saludo...

1 hr

-> Gracias, John :-) Y eso que no sé casi nada del béisbol...

agree

Juan Jacob: Ya caigo, claro. Andaba lejos. AMLO es muy aficionado al béisbol, de ahí. Muy bien. Sí, AMLO es originario del estado de Tabasco, donde es fuerte la presencia del béibol... por cercanía a Cuba, supongo.

3 hrs

-> Muchas gracias, Juan. Eso no lo sabía; así tiene más sentido.

agree

neilmac: Tore a strip off him.... :)

11 hrs

-> Cheers, Neil ;-) That would go very well. Got to work "mañanero" in somehow...

agree

Robert Carter: Good investigative work here, I didn't know this either. Not sure about "drubbing" though, and perhaps translating "mañanero" is difficult here without sounding forced. How about "hung him out to dry"?//Yes, I like MT's idea too.

19 hrs

-> Thanks, Robert :-) This seems OK to me. I'm open to alternatives, provided they mean criticising him publicly rather than reprimanding him (to his face). // Or María Teresa's "threw him under a bus". Pity to abandon the sports metaphor, though.

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dar chocolate mañanero

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