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I have heard the following line in the TV series Narcos:Mexico :

Mañana me voy a cerrar un negocio. Ahí te aviso si todo sale al cielo.

Context: Felix, Guadalajara cartel boss, has just tried to renegotiate the terms of his cocaine transportation deal with the Cali cartel, but failed. After the meeting, he decides to travel the next day in order to get a new associate and a better deal. Then, he notifies his right-hand man (El Azul) of what he is going to do.

What does "sale al cielo" means? "to go alright" ? I couldn't find its meaning in the Word Reference dictionary.

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  • not sure if it is everything goes fine, or goes away
    – Iria
    Feb 14, 2020 at 14:38
  • I believe that I need the full context to understand it better
    – Iria
    Feb 14, 2020 at 14:38
  • @Iria Context added. I don't think that "goes away" makes sense as a translation of "salir al cielo" in this sentence. Feb 14, 2020 at 14:43
  • Note that many other answers of similar questions suggested explanations coming from the DAMER. Have you checked it?
    – fedorqui
    Feb 14, 2020 at 14:43
  • 1
    BTW are you sure he said "al cielo" and not "al pelo" ???
    – DGaleano
    Feb 14, 2020 at 16:23

1 Answer 1

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The actual coloquial idiom is:

Mañana me voy a cerrar un negocio. Ahí te aviso si todo sale al cien

which means "100", short for "cien por ciento" (100% or a hundred percent). The intended meaning being "OK" or "all right". Thusly this phrase would translate to:

I'll be gone tomorrow, I'll be closing a deal. I'll let you know if everything went smoothly

The most frequent usage of this regional slang when greeting someone:

Spanish Mexican Slang English Slang
- ¡Quihubo, ¿como estás, loco?
- ¡Al cien, ese!
- 'sup, how are ya
- A OK, dude

It is also common to change cien for a similar sounding word, most notably "ciego" (blind), a common practice with slang colloquialisms, which i suspect is the case here, being very true to actual language use for the kind of character that utters this phrase.

A common usage of "ciego" is referring to MXN$ 100.00 banknotes, and an equivalent slang idiom in english would be "c-note" ( a USD$ 100.00 banknote ) as in:

Los dulces valen un ciego, cada uno
(Candies are a c-note each)

The slang meaning of dulces (candies) in this example is left as an exercise to the reader =)

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