Sometimes mortals “hitch a lift” (hacer autostop) and that person is then a “hitchhiker” (autoestopista). An example:
- Mr. Podemos hitched a lift (hizo autostop) from La Moncloa to Galicia.
A “hitch” (obstáculo, impedimento,) is an obstacle or complication. There can also be “technical hitches” (trabas técnicas) with computers and machines. Two examples:
- The plan to evacuate Afghanistan was full of hitches (…lleno de contratiempos) due to bad planning by the USA.
- The building of the opera house in Patagonia went without hitches (…salió sin problemas).
There is another verb use: to hitch (atar) something to something. An example:
- Ricardo hitched (ató) his horse to the rail (baranda).
So, if life is full of hitches it means that there are problems and setbacks (reveses), or you could say life is not a bed of roses (…no es una vida de rosas). There are other uses of hitch: for a later article.
