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Comprar gato por lebre

Portuguese

Meaning

To buy a pig in a poke / To be ripped off

Example

O anel era falso, coitada, comprou gato por lebre!

The ring was fake, poor thing, she got ripped off!

Origin

The phrase literally means "to buy a cat instead of a hare." It dates from times of war and scarcity, when meat was dear: skinned, a cat and a hare are alike in size and shape, and dishonest merchants would marinate cat meat to mask its smell and pass it off as hare.