What does “lo tomas o lo dejas” mean in Spanish?

Oferta de la banquera en Lo tomas o lo dejas

WhatsAppGmailTelegramEmail

A2 Spanish listening practice · Mexican Spanish · Picked for people who know a little

💡 Did you know?
lo tomas o lo dejas
Spanish set phrase
“Take it or leave it” — the no-negotiation ultimatum, and the name of Deal or No Deal in Spanish.

Lo tomas o lo dejas is the exact Spanish twin of “take it or leave it”: an offer with zero room to haggle — accept it as is or walk away. Lo is the neuter “it,” tomar is to take, dejar is to leave, so the structure maps one-to-one onto English. You will hear it from a market vendor settling a price as readily as from anyone laying down a final, non-negotiable condition.

The phrase is famous enough that it became the Latin American title of the game show Deal or No Deal, where contestants weigh the banker’s offer against the mystery briefcase. Swap the verbs for me and it turns personal — me tomas o me dejas, “take me or leave me,” an all-or-nothing love ultimatum. Same grammar, much higher stakes.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this A2 Spanish listening practice video?

86.2%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common Spanish words
Most of the words in this video are common Spanish words.

How common in written Spanish

82.6%
Top 1,000
86.2%
Top 2,000
89.9%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken Spanish

90.8%
Top 1,000
94.9%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in Spanish.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.

banquera
3×
Not in top 5,000
female banker
botonera
1×
Not in top 5,000
button holder
maletines
1×
Not in top 5,000
briefcases
presionas
1×
Not in top 5,000
you press
quisiese
1×
Not in top 5,000
he/she wished
la banquera
1×
the banker (game show character)

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

See Mexican Spanish Videos You Can Understand on Reelang

Open Spanish page