bregar

What it means

1. 1.

   To deal with something, to handle it — with the implication of effort and improvisation. 'Bregar con' takes a person or a problem: bregar con el tránsito, bregar con mi jefe.

2. 2.

   To work, or to hustle: 'toy bregando' means I am out earning, by whatever means are available this week.

3. 3.

   In the negative, to behave badly: 'tú bregaste mal conmigo' is a complaint about how you treated me.

Examples with translations

• Yo brego con eso mañana.

  I'll sort that out tomorrow.

• Tá bregando en una barbería ahora.

  He's working in a barber shop at the moment.

• Tú bregaste mal conmigo, loco.

  You did me dirty, man.

  Note: A reproach about conduct — nothing to do with work.

Where it comes from

Standard Spanish bregar means to struggle or to knead dough. Caribbean Spanish broadened it into a general verb of coping, and Dominican and Puerto Rican speech lean on it heavily. The 'treated me badly' sense is the one least likely to be guessed from the dictionary entry.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

brega