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What does the phrase hora de verdad mean in bullfighting?

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Julian Lopez El Juli, dressed in a blue and gold bullfighter costume, faces a charging bull while holding a pink and yellow cape in a sandy bullring in Barcelona. — bullfighting Spanish matador El Juli engaging a bull, June 6, 2010, Barcelona.

In bullfighting, the phrase hora de verdad translates to the "moment of truth". It refers to the final stage of the spectacle when the matador prepares to kill the bull with a sword thrust.12

This term is used because, while it is not difficult to kill a bull in various ways, performing the kill properly—by sinking the sword into the small opening between the bull's shoulder blades to sever the aorta—requires great skill and courage. Because the matador must lean in dangerously close to the animal to execute this maneuver, the outcome is a critical test of the bullfighter's mastery, and the audience is well aware of the difference between a skillful execution and an improper one.13