Have you ever thought about sending someone far away? You couldn’t handle him/her anymore and the only thing you want to do is…¡mandarle a freir espárragos!

This phrase has its origins in the XIX Century and was used with the same intention like nowadays but it was used as ‘go and fry asparagus’ or ‘go to pick asparagus’. It was meant to keep the person occupy the longest time possible.

There is another theory that believes fried asparagus had no culinary consideration so doing this duty wasted someone time so you didn’t have to see them for quite a while.

It can be used as well in a very informal and close way to end a discussion.

This expression is related to white asparagus as you have to boil them if you want to eat cause if you want to eat them fried is going to take time to get it done.

Fresh asparagus

As a curiosity this phrase is the opposite to a proverb that said “Citius quam asparagi coquantur”, said by a roman historian that translates into “in less than an asparagus is boiled”.

I hope you enjoyed this misunderstood expression of the week.

Conchi

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