ir tirando

Spanish

Verb

ir tirando (first-person singular present voy tirando, first-person singular preterite fui tirando, past participle ido tirando)

1. (idiomatic) to get by, to survive, to manage

   Synonyms: apañarse, arreglárselas, componérselas

   • 1998, Roberto Bolaño, Los detectives salvajes, →ISBN, page 223:

     Así que cuando Arturo llegó a Barcelona su madre estaba muchísimo mejor, la beca no era demasiado generosa pero le permitía ir tirando, incluso tuvo dinero para comprar chocolates de muchas clases, pues sabía que a Arturo le gustaba el chocolate europeo, como todo el mundo sabe, es infinitamente mejor que el mexicano.

     So when Arturo arrived in Barcelona, his mother was much better; the grant wasn't too generous, but it allowed her to get by; she even had money to buy many types of chocolates, since she knew that Arturo liked European chocolate; as everyone knows, it's infinitely better than Mexican chocolate.

Further reading

• “ir tirando”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28