Barbara Cochran, MFA Oct 28, 2021:

I Wish I Had Had One Of Yours, neilmac A group of us female Spanish students from Hiram College went out with some Spanish guys in Madrid one evening. We all shared a large pitcher of the stuff, but I actually found it quite insipid, and it had too much lemon in it. The payoff for grinning and bearing it was that the very handsome Spanish guy across from me and I spent some really good times after that in what was considered, during the reign of the Spanish iron-fisted dictator, Francisco Franco, a "bar revolucionario", where I always drank something much more to my liking and found the atmosphere so much more exciting, in more than one way.

neilmac Oct 28, 2021:

Never, ever? I live in Valencia and here you can drink whatever you like with your paella. Some people want sangria because it contains less alcohol than wine (or it should, although you can also make it stronger by adding more alcohol). Which reminds me of the time I was running a bar/restaurant during the Fallas festival. Some tourists, who may have been Australian, I don’t recall, ordered sangria, and they looked like fun loving types, so I made them a strong one, which also contained a peach liqueur. They loved it and said it was the best they had ever had. However, when some Spanish customers tried it, they totally pooh-poohed it and said it couldn’t even be described as sangria. So, there you go. You can’t please all of the people all of the time… :-)

Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales (asker) Oct 28, 2021:

Thanks for your correction, Adoración. Sorry about the initial sketchy context, philgoddard. My mind won't get out of first gear today, which is why I'm asking.

Adoración Bodoque Martínez Oct 28, 2021:

The word "eso", in your sentence, does refer to "sangría", and not to the whole experience of drinking it with a paella meal. The reason why the author is saying "eso es más malo que pegar a una madre" is that sangría is usually made with cheap, lesser quality wine, which is then mixed with other ingredients. So, it is not something you would drink if you want to appreciate the taste of the wine. However, Spanish people do drink it, especially during the summer, because it is a refreshing drink. Here is an interesting article about sangría: https://www.lavanguardia.com/comer/tendencias/20200813/32802...

philgoddard Oct 28, 2021:

Thanks That makes a lot more sense - please do remember to include the full context. You could say something like "that is the pits/absolute worst".

Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales (asker) Oct 28, 2021:

This text is a proposal for the content of a website, so the author is speaking to the CEO of the company that wants the website. My impression is that the author (a Spaniard) is expressing his disdain for sangria (which is not really a common drink among Spaniards, despite its reputation among tourists from the UK which presumably make up a large percentage of the company's clientele) and is suggesting that sangria not be included on the web page. Instead, "let them (the clients who have had sangria in Spain or might go to Spain in the future) drink it (sangria) in Spain (on their holidays) with their paella. I live in Malaga and have seen more than one table of tourists enjoying plates of paella (a dish from Valencia) for dinner (paella is a lunch dish) with a jug of sangria (which is hardly drunk by Spaniards and never, ever with paella). And it's this combination that is "más malo que pegar a una madre". I'm going to be away for the next several hours, but I appreciate all your input.

Adoración Bodoque Martínez Oct 28, 2021:

The sentence is grammatical; "que eso" means "because that...", and "that" is referring to the "sangría". "(Eso) es más malo que pegar a una madre" is an expression meaning that something is extremely poor quality. I just can't think of an equivalent or suitable expression in English.

philgoddard Oct 28, 2021:

Yes It does seem a strange thing to say. And is the sentence grammatical? What does "que eso" mean?
Perhaps some of the surrounding text would help.

Toni Castano Oct 28, 2021:

Confusing source Elisabeth, I´m not clear about the intended meaning of your quote. I really don´t know if the intention of the text is just jocular or a direct attack on the sangria (to enhance the quality of their wines), In either case, the outcome sounds quite inappropriate for a professional website. I don´t know what to think.