José Miguel rechaza a Valentina tras la muerte de su padre

What does “correr a alguien” mean in Mexican Spanish?

You know correr as “to run.” But in Mexico, when the verb takes a person — correr a alguien — it means to throw them out or fire them. No te arriesgues a que te corra is “don’t risk him kicking you out,” and me corrieron del trabajo means “I got fired.” Nobody is jogging anywhere; someone is being shown the door.

The telenovela scene runs on this verb: Valentina shows up uninvited after a death in the family, and the warning comes — “No te arriesgues a que José Miguel te corra.” You’ll also hear lo corrieron de la casa (“they kicked him out of the house”). Elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, echar or despedir do this job.