"Hacerse el loco" or just playing dumb

“Hacerse el loco” or just playing dumb.

In our Latin culture, as clever as we think we can be, sometimes we avoid direct confrontation or some extra work for others by “pretending” we didn’t see, we didn’t hear, we weren’t there or we didn’t know, because probably we didn’t care. So we act out as if nothing happened and we run away from the situation or the trouble we create.

Does it sound familiar? Is it more than a Latin thing? You might as well learn from us or do it in the Latin way and use the reflexive verb “hacerse” plus the adjective “loco” (crazy) including the definite article. So we have “hacerse el loco”.

So, when someone needs our help, “nos hacemos los locos” and we avoid the situation without even refusing. Right, some folks screw things up really violently and then they plead insanity. That’s when the expression gets literal.

But of course, this expression can have certain variations in meaning which require a little of acting, when using other adjectives such as: “hacerse el tonto” (dumb), “el sordo” (deaf) o “el payaso” (clown).