The mess is just a chapter. Breathe, laugh if you can, and take the smallest possible step forward.

Since this phrase is colloquial Spanish (often used in Spain and Latin America to describe a huge, absurd, or frustrating real-life screw-up), this post aims to explain the term, give examples, and offer advice on how to handle them. We’ve all been there. You wake up thinking it’s going to be a normal day, and then—boom. The universe conspires against you. In Spanish, we have a perfect phrase for this: “folladas reales.”

Literally, it translates to “real fucks-ups” or “real messes.” It describes those absurd, frustrating, and often ridiculous situations that actually happen in real life (not just in comedy movies).

Think about it: No one gathers at dinner to talk about the day everything went perfectly. They gather to say, “Remember that time the toilet overflowed right before the job interview?”