So you think you know the subtleties and nuances of idiomatic English. Here are som USA based idioms derived from cities. Let’s see how many you get right.
New York minute
Philadelphia lawyer
Politics Chicago style
Baltimore chop
Boston marriage
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28Jan
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
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28Jan
Categories: Clothing, Religion, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
In a previous posting we have seen one Spanish version of “birthday suit”. Here’s another: “traje de Adán”, which means “Adam’s suit”.
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27Jan
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Weather Comments: 0
“Necesitar como agua de mayo” means “to need like water of May”. The idiomatic translation is “to absolutely need” or “must have”.
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26Jan
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
Here’s an amusing phrase: “mas caro que un hijo tonto”. The literal translation is “more expensive than an idiot son”. The given equivalent in English is “white elephant”.
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25Jan
Categories: Bread, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
In English we use the phrase “to be worth one’s salt” to describe someone who provides fair value. In Spanish, bread is the exchange medium, as in “merecer el pan que se come”. The translation is “to be worth the bread one eats”.
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22Jan
Categories: Food, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Estar en su salsa” literally translates to “to be in one’s sauce”. The idiomatic meaning is “to be in one’s element”. Compare to the phrase “to be sauced”, which means “to be drunk”.
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21Jan
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When we lend assistance to someone we “lend a hand”. In Spanish we “lean a shoulder”, as in “arrimar el hombro”.
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20Jan
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Sports Comments: 0
Here’s an idiom that loosely fits the categories of anatomy (hair) and sports (bullfighting): “cortarse la coleta”. The literal translation is “to cut off the pigtail”. It means “to retire from bullfighting” and “to give up a habit or custom”.
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19Jan
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When we’re buck naked we say we’re in our “birthday suit”. One equivalent Spanish phrase is “como tu madre te trajo al mundo”, which means “like your mother brought you into the world”.
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15Jan
Categories: Anatomy, Bread, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When someone is born into money we say he was “born with a silver spoon in his mouth”. A Spanish equivalent phrase is “nacer con un pan bajo el brazo”. This translates to “to be born with a loaf of bread under the arm”. As you can see if you examine this site, there is an entire category for idioms and sayings involving “pan” or “bread”.