In English a slang term for bad liquor is “rotgut”. The equivalent term in Spanish is “matarratas”, which means “rat-killer”.
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30Oct
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29Oct
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“Gente de alto copete” means “people of high crest”. The idiomatic equivalent in English is phonetically similar: “upper crust people”.
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28Oct
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When we consider various options we might say we “toy with ideas”. In Spanish one would “shuffle ideas”, as in “barajar ideas”.
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27Oct
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“Estar en las vacas flacas” literally translates to “to be in the skinny cows”. The idiomatic meaning is “to be in lean years”.
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26Oct
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“Hacer economías del chocolate del loro” literally translates to “to make economies of the chocolate of the parrot”. The idiomatic meaning is “to count every penny”; “to over-economize”, or “to pinch pennies”.
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23Oct
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“Vivir de la sopa boba” literally translates as “to live from the silly soup”. The idiomatic meaning is “to live (sponge) off of others”. Another version is “comer de la sopa boba”. “Comer” means “to eat”.
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22Oct
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“A buenas horas mangas verdes” literally translates to “to good hours green sleeves”. The equivalent saying in English is “no good shutting the barn door after the horse is gone”.
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21Oct
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When something is selling out rapidly we use the phrase “to sell like hotcakes”. In Spanish it would sell like donuts, as in “venderse como rosquillas”.
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20Oct
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“Meter la hoz en mies ajena” literally translates to “to stick the sickle in another’s grain”. The given equivalent saying in English is “to poach upon someone else’s preserves”.
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19Oct
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When we have to forego something we want we use the phrase “to have to do (go) without”. An equivalent phrase in Spanish is “quedarse con las ganas”, which means “to remain with the desires”.