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Like A Spaniard…

• Spanish Idiom January 30, 2009

  30Jan
  Categories: Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  Spanish has many idioms using “rana”, which means “frog”. “No ser rana” means “not to be frog”. The idiomatic translation is “to be no fool”.

• Spanish Idiom January 29, 2009

  29Jan
  Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  In English, we say that we have a “lump in the throat”. In Spanish, it would be a knot, as in “un nudo en la garganta”.

• Spanish Idiom January 28, 2009

  28Jan
  Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  When faced with a difficult situation we might use the phrase “to sweat blood” or “to sweat bullets”. In Spanish, we would sweat “bile”, as in “echar (sudar) la hiel”.

• 16 Ways to Call Someone Weak in Spanish

  27Jan
  Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  Débil, blandengue, debilucho, enclenque, deleznable, desmedrado, endeble, escuchimizado, alicaido, ruin, desfallecido, títere, raquítico, feble, gurrumino and canijo.

• Spanish Idiom January 27, 2009

  27Jan
  Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  When someone exhibits bravery or daring we say “he has guts”. In Spanish, another part of the anatomy is invoked, as in “¡Que hígados tiene!”, which means “what livers he has!”. Another liver related phrase is “echar los hígados”, which literally translates to “to throw the livers”. The colloquial meaning is “to work one’s fingers to the bone”.

• Spanish Idiom January 26, 2009

  26Jan
  Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Vegetable Comments: 0

  “En todas partes cuecen habas” literally translates to “in all places they cook beans”. The idiomatic translation is “it’s the same the whole world over”.

• Spanish Idiom January 24, 2009

  24Jan
  Categories: Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  The Spanish version of “to be neither fish nor fowl” reverses the order, as in “no ser ni carne ni pescado”, which means “to be neither meat nor fish”.

• Spanish Saying January 23, 2009

  23Jan
  Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  I don’t know what the origin of this saying is, and would be interested in whatever anyone has to offer. “Quien hace un cesto hará cien (ciento)” means “he who makes one basket will make a hundred”. The equivalent in English is “once a thief always  a thief”.

• 18 Ways to Say Stubborn in Spanish

  22Jan
  Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  How many ways can we say stubborn in English? Here are 18 ways to say stubborn in Spanish: obstinado, empecinado, porfiado, tozudo, duro de mollera, tieso, cabezón, testarudo, obcecado, cabezudo, atestado, contumaz, pertinaz, reacio, cazurro, emparrarse (to be stubborn) and aferrado.

• Spanish Saying January 22, 2009

  22Jan
  Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0

  “Lo mejor es enemigo de lo bueno” literally means “the best is enemy of the good”. The equivalent saying in English is “leave well enough alone”.