Here’s an idiomatic phrase to describe oversleeping: “pegársele a uno las sábanas”. The translation is “to have the sheets stick to one”.
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30Sep
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
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29Sep
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“¡Paz a sus cenizas!” translates to “peace to his ashes!”. In English we’d say “may he rest in peace!”.
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28Sep
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Enseñar la pata” literally means “to show the leg”. The idiomatic meaning is “to show one’s true self”. Note that “pata” refers to the leg of an animal. “Pierna” is used for the human leg. “Pata” is a slang term for leg when referring to a person.
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25Sep
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In both English and Spanish there are numerous idioms to describe death. In English we have the phrase “pushing up daisies”. One Spanish idiom is “estar mascando tierra”, which means “to be chewing earth”.
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24Sep
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When we are desperate to have something, we might say “I’d give my right arm for …”. The equivalent phrase in Spanish is “daría media vida por …”, which means “I’d give half a life for …”.
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23Sep
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In English, we call a phony or incompetent doctor a “quack”. In Spanish, the equivalent term is “matasanos”, which means “healthy persons killer”.
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22Sep
Categories: Food, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
Any carnivore who has been to Spain has surely eaten “chorizo”, that paprika laced sausage. Depending on context, calling someone a “chorizo” can mean “thief” or “idiot”.
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21Sep
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Sports Comments: 0
When we decide to enter the fray, we might say we’re going to “throw one’s hat into the ring”. An equivalent idiomatic phrase in Spanish is “saltar a la palestra”, which means “to jump into the arena”. University of Pennsylvania graduates are very familiar with The Palestra, its venerable sports facility, but perhaps not all know it means “arena”. Spanish speakers, in turn, know that “arena” literally means “sand”.
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18Sep
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Tools Comments: 0
“En dos paletadas” means “in two shovelfuls”. English has an equivalent idiom using the number two: “in two shakes of a lamb’s tail”. Another equivalent phrase is “in the wink of an eye”.
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17Sep
Categories: Bread, SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Vegetable Comments: 0
“Ser mas verdad que pan con tomate” means “to be more truth than bread with tomato”. Can’t think of an idiomatic equivalent in English other than “it’s the real thing”.