no dejar títere con cabeza

== Spanish == === Etymology === Literally, “to not leave a puppet with a head”. The term alludes to a scene in Don Quixote (Volume 2 Chapter 26) in which in one of Don Quixote's daydreams he mistakes dolls for a maiden's real captors and thus cuts off all their heads. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˌno deˌxaɾ ˌtiteɾe kon kaˈbeθa/ [ˌno ð̞eˌxaɾ ˌt̪i.t̪e.ɾe kõŋ kaˈβ̞e.θa] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain) IPA(key): /ˌno deˌxaɾ ˌtiteɾe kon kaˈbesa/ [ˌno ð̞eˌxaɾ ˌt̪i.t̪e.ɾe kõŋ kaˈβ̞e.sa] (Latin America, Philippines) Syllabification: no de‧jar tí‧te‧re con ca‧be‧za === Verb === no dejar títere con cabeza (first-person singular present no dejo títere con cabeza, first-person singular preterite no dejé títere con cabeza, past participle no dejado títere con cabeza) (idiomatic) to smash up everything in sight (idiomatic) to do away with everything === Further reading === “no dejar títere con cabeza, o con cara”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025