What does “lo estafaron” mean in Spanish?
Mi hermano no sabe matemáticas y me estafan
A2 Spanish listening practice · Mexican Spanish · Picked for people who know a little
The brother is so bad at math he cannot even count his change. The joke lands with “Una vez, hasta lo estafaron” — “One time, they even scammed him.” Estafar means to cheat someone out of money by tricking them: a scam, a fake deal, a short change. The “lo” means him — so the whole phrase says someone already ripped him off.
In the clip: “Una vez, hasta lo estafaron.” — “One time, they even scammed him.” Estafar is to cheat someone out of money by tricking them. You will hear it for scams and rip-offs: “Me estafaron en el mercado” (they ripped me off at the market); “Esa tienda estafa a la gente” (that shop cheats people); “Cuidado, es una estafa” (careful, it is a scam). The “lo” before the verb means him — swap in “me” for yourself or “te” for someone you are talking to.
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Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.