When something is going very well we might say “it’s running like clockwork”. In Spain they use bigger wheels than what you’d find in a clock: “marchar sobre ruedas”. The literal translation is “to run on wheels”.
-
30Jul
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
-
29Jul
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When something escapes us, such as an opportunity that was well in hand, we might use the phrase “to slip through one’s fingers”. In Spanish, it would slip from the hand, as in “írsele a uno por la mano”.
-
28Jul
Categories: Bread, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Dame pan y dime tonto” literally translates to “give me bread and call me fool”. The idiomatic meaning is “I don’t care what people say as long as I get what I want”.
-
27Jul
Categories: Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When we caution someone who has decided to do something we consider very dangerous, we might say “you’re playing with fire”. A Spanish equivalent warning is “si esta víbora te pica, no hay remedio en la botica”. The literal translation: “if this viper bites you, there’s no remedy in the drugstore”.
-
26Jul
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Ser uña y carne” literally translates to “to be nail and flesh”. The idiomatic meaning is “to be hand and glove together”.
-
23Jul
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
If I am really desperate for something I’d say “I’d give my right arm” for it. A Spaniard would only go so far as to give his right hand, as in “daría my mano derecha”.
-
22Jul
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When a person exaggerates a problem we say “to make a mountain out of a molehill”. There are various equivalents of this phrase in Spanish, including “ahogarse en un vaso de agua”. The literal translation is “to drown in a glass of water”.
-
21Jul
Categories: Religion, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Hostia” is a word frequently heard in Spain. The literal definition is “communion wafer” or “host”. It is sometimes used by itself as an expletive “¡hostia!”, which is something like “shoot!”, but perhaps a little stronger. Polite people sometimes substitute the similar sounding “¡ostras!”, which means “oysters!”. Another application is “pegarle una hostia”, which translates to “to smack someone a communion wafer”.
-
20Jul
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Tools Comments: 0
“Tener buena percha” literally means “to have good hanger”. The idiomatic translation is “to have a good physique”.
-
19Jul
Categories: Names, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
If you’re really, really lost in Spain, you are “más perdido que Carracuca”, which means “more lost than Carracuca”. Don’t ask me who Carracuca is.