When our shoes are too big we say “my feet are swimming in these shoes”. In Spain the same feet would dance, as in “mis pies bailan en los zapatos”.
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04Jan
Categories: Clothing, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
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20Aug
Categories: Colors, Royalty/Aristocracy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
We all remember “Prince Charming” from fairy tales. The Spanish equivalent is the “Blue Prince”, as in “el Prìncipe Azul”.
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24Jul
Categories: Food, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Ganarse el cocido” literally means “to earn one’s stew”. An equivalent phrase in English is “to earn one’s bread and butter”. Someone who accomplishes this is said “to bring home the bacon”.
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23Jul
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Vamos de culo” literally translates to “we’re going of butt”. Awkward translation, but the colloquial meaning is “things are going very badly for us”.
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27Mar
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When we wish to emphasize that someone is only human we say that “to be of flesh and blood”. The Spanish equivalent is a bit different: “ser de carne y hueso”. The translation is “to be of flesh and bone”.
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20Mar
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
Here are two idioms using “cuello”, which means “neck”. “Me juego el cuello a que …” literally translates to “I’d bet my neck that …”. An equivalent phrase in English is “I’d bet anything that …”. The other phrase is “meter el cuello” which means “to stick the neck in”. The colloquial equivalent in English is “to put one’s nose to the grindstone”.
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27Feb
Categories: Fruit, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Estar en la higuera” literally translates to “to be in the fig tree”. The colloquial meaning is “to be in the clouds” or perhaps “to be out to lunch”.
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11Jan
Categories: Food, Insects, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
We describe being drawn to an irresitible temptation with the phrase “like bees to honey”. In Spain, the equivalent phrase is “como moscas a la miel” which means “like flies to the honey”.
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14Dec
Categories: Nationality/Ethnicity, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Tener sàbado inglès” literally means “to have an English Saturday”. The colloquial translation is “to work a half day on Saturday”.
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13Dec
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Tools Comments: 0
When we are sad we are said to have a “heavy heart”. In Spanish the equivalent phrase is a bit more graphic: “tener un clavo en el corazòn”. This translates to “to have a nail in the heart”.