de Guatemala a Guatepeor

• salir de Guatemala y meterse en Guatepeor
• salir de Guatemala y entrar en Guatepeor

Literally, “From Guate-bad to Guate-worse”. A play on the words with Guatemala, changing mala (“bad”) for peor (“worse”), and the expression ir de mal a peor.

• IPA^(key): /de ɡwateˌmala a ɡwatepeˈoɾ/ [d̪e ɣ̞wa.t̪eˌma.la a ɣ̞wa.t̪e.peˈoɾ]
• Syllabification: de Gua‧te‧ma‧la a Gua‧te‧pe‧or

de Guatemala a Guatepeor

1. (idiomatic) out of the frying pan into the fire; going from bad to worse

   Ascender a gerente después de ser cajero es como ir de Guatemala a Guatepeor.

   Advancing to manager after being a cashier is like going from the frying pan into the fire.

   • 2021 August 6, “De 'Guatemala a Guatepeor': así explicó LAPORTA la situación con MESSI | Diario As”, in As in YouTube‎^[1]:

• Used with verbs like ir (“go”) and pasar (“pass through, go through, cross”)

• éramos pocos y parió la abuela