On July 9, 2019, Carlos Urzúa resigned as Mexico’s finance secretary. In his letter, as published by Expansión, he wrote: “Me resulta inaceptable la imposición de funcionarios que no tienen conocimiento de la hacienda pública” (I find unacceptable the imposition of officials who have no knowledge of public finance). He wrote that this had been driven by influential figures in the government with an obvious conflict of interest. (Video in Spanish.)
Waiting for the Line
Tirar línea, soltar línea, recibir línea: to throw the line, to release the line, to receive the line. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines the popular expressions as telling someone how to behave or which guidelines to follow, or listening to such guidelines and obeying them.
The dictionary gives two examples. “El director general nos tiró línea sobre qué hacer en caso de huelga” (The director general gave us the line on what to do in case of a strike). “Estaban ahí nomás, esperando recibir línea del diputado” (They were just standing there, waiting to receive the line from the deputy).
Skipping the Boss
In January 2014, the marketing magazine Merca2.0 gave advice on dealing with a difficult boss. Under the heading “Dale su lugar” (Give him his place), it warned: “Saltarte a tu jefe, evidenciar su incapacidad en una reunión o burlarte de él puede ser muy contraproducente” (Going over the boss’s head, exposing his incompetence in a meeting or mocking him can be very counterproductive).
The same month, the accounting news site Noticiero Contable put the advice in a single sentence: “No te saltes la jerarquía, perderás de un plumazo lo que te ha costado años ganar” (Do not skip the hierarchy. At one stroke, you will lose what took years to earn).
Whatever Time You Say
“¿Qué hora es?” “La que usted diga, señor presidente.” “What time is it?” “Whatever time you say, Mr. President.” Mexican columnists quote the exchange as a well-known maxim. In 2020, a guest column in Expansión applied it to judges who follow the president.
The columns give no origin for it, and none ties it to a particular president. A variant ends la que usted mande, “whatever time you order.”