We all remember “Prince Charming” from fairy tales. The Spanish equivalent is the “Blue Prince”, as in “el Prìncipe Azul”.
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20Aug
Categories: Colors, Royalty/Aristocracy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
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14Jul
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In honor of Bastille Day, here’s a royalty related idiom: “vivir a cuerpo de rey”. The literal translation is “to live at body of king”. The idiomatic equivalent in English is “to live off the fat of the land”.
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02Jul
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“Las cosas de palacio van despacio” literally translates to “the things of palace go slowly”. The equivalent phrase in English is “it all takes time”. See a previous posting for the Spanish counterpart of “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
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09Mar
Categories: Royalty/Aristocracy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
The Spanish equivalent of “a man’s home is his castle” is “cada uno es rey en su casa”. The translation is “each one is king in his house”.
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26Dec
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A brave person made be said “to fear nothing and nobody”. A Spanish equivalent is “no temer ni rey ni roque”, which means “to fear neither king nor rook”.
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11Dec
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“A rey muerto, rey puesto” literally means “to king dead, king placed”. The idiomatic translation is “off with the old, on with the new”.
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19Jan
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“Ni quito ni pongo rey” literally means “I don’t remove nor put king”. The colloquial translation is “it’s none of my business” or “it has nothing to do with me”.
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06Aug
Categories: Royalty/Aristocracy Comments: 1
Here’s a euphemism for “going to the bathroom”: “Ir a donde el rey va solo”, which literally means “To go where the king goes alone”. In English the ladies say “To go powder one’s nose”. Men often say “I have to go see a man about a horse”.
“Se lo ponen como a Felipe II” literally means “They serve it to him as they would to Phillip the Second”. The equivalent in English would be “He gets everything handed to him on a plate”.
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10Apr
Categories: Royalty/Aristocracy Comments: 0
Spanish: “Hablando del rey de Roma, por la puerta asoma” Literal translation: “Speaking of the king of Rome, he’s looming at the door”
English Equivalent: “Speaking of the devil!”