How do you say “Beat a dead horse” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is Seguir insistiendo en lo mismo, which literally means “To keep insisting on the same thing”. English speakers use beat a dead horse to mean to waste energy by continuing to discuss, argue about, or try to change something that cannot be resolved or changed. Natural wording for repeating a settled argument. The surrounding sentence must make clear that further effort is pointless. Register: neutral, informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
Seguir insistiendo en lo mismo
/seˈɣiɾ insisˈtjendo en lo ˈmismo/
- Literal meaning
- “To keep insisting on the same thing”
- Register
- neutral, informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
83 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
English makes the wasted effort vivid with a dead horse. This Spanish wording describes the repetition without that harsh image.
It works for settled arguments. For an impossible task rather than a repeated discussion, make that impossibility explicit instead.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning4 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in Spanish?
Darle vueltas a lo mismo
Literally: “To give turns to the same thing”
Focuses on repeatedly discussing or thinking about it.
Insistir en algo que no tiene remedio
Literally: “To insist on something that has no remedy”
Makes the hopelessness explicit.
Common translation traps
Golpear a un caballo muerto
This is not the usual Spanish way to describe a pointless repeated argument.
The notes above explain why these versions do not work in this context in Spanish.
In context
English
We have decided, so stop beating a dead horse.
Spanish
Ya hemos decidido, así que deja de insistir en lo mismo.
English
Arguing about that closed case is beating a dead horse.
Spanish
Discutir sobre ese caso cerrado es seguir insistiendo en lo mismo.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-09-13