Here are twelve ways to say peasant in Spanish. Some are neutral while others are pejorative.
Paleto, palurdo, cateto, patán. rústico, macaco, villano, agreste, campestre, tosco, lugareño and labriego.
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31Mar
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31Mar
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When we’re in a precarious situation we might use the phrase “with a knife at one’s throat”. The Spanish equivalent is “con un puñal en el pecho”, which means “with a dagger in the chest”.
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30Mar
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“Los duelos con pan son menos” translates to “the sorrows with bread are less”. An equivalent phrase in English is “money lessens the blow”.
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27Mar
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“No saber a qué santo encomendarse” literally translates to “to not know to which saint to entrust oneself”. The idiomatic meaning is “to be at one’s wits’ end” or “not to to know which way to turn”.
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26Mar
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We might describe an astute person as “sharp as a tack”. One Spanish equivalent is “ser más listo que el hambre”, which means “to be sharper than hunger”.
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25Mar
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We often describe a stubborn person as “hard-headed”. Here’s a Spanish phrase employing this theme: “ser capaz de clavar un clavo con la cabeza”. The literal translation is “to be capable of nailing a nail with the head”.
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24Mar
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“El martes, ni te cases ni te embarques” literally translates to “Tuesday, neither marry nor embark (on a trip)”. Note that Tuesday is a bad luck day. The Spanish equivalent of Friday the thirteenth is “martes el trece”, which is “Tuesday the thirteenth”.
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23Mar
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“Estar como en brasas” literally means “to be as on coals”. One given equivalent in English is “to be on tenterhooks”.
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20Mar
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“Perder la brújula” means “to lose the compass”. The equivalent phrase in English is “to lose one’s bearings”, which is what happens when you lose your compass.
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19Mar
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“Poner a mal tiempo buena cara” literally translates to “to put to bad time good face”. Two equivalents in English employ only part of the face: “to keep a stiff upper lip” and to keep one’s chin up”.