When a person is “clueless”, one might say “no sabe ni papa”. The literal translation is “he doesn’t even know potato”. Another word for potato is “patata”, and it’s what the photographer asks you to say in order to elicit a smile.
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28May
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Vegetable Comments: 0
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27May
Categories: Anatomy, Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
Here’s a phrase that includes the categories of anatomy and animals. When someone stares at a Spaniard, one response he may get is “¿Es que tengo monos en la cara?”. The question posed is “do I have monkeys on my face?”.
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26May
Categories: Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Estar como gallina en corral ajeno” literally translates to “to be like a hen in someone else’s farmyard”. The idiomatic equivalent in English is “to be like a fish out of water”.
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25May
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“Ancha es Castilla” means “wide is Castille”. The figurative meaning is “the future is yours”.
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24May
Categories: SPEAK Like A Spaniard..., Weapons Comments: 0
One way of describing “important people” in Spanish is “gente de fuste”. “Gente” means “people”; and “fuste” is the shaft of a lance.
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23May
Categories: Insects, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Olla de grillos” literally translates to a dish that I’d rather not eat: “pot of crickets”. The idiomatic meaning is “madhouse” or “bedlam”.
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22May
Categories: Anatomy, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
When we exact too much from someone we are said “to bleed someone white”. An equivalent Spanish phrase is “sacar los ojos a uno”. The translation is “to gouge someone’s eyes out”.
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21May
Categories: Names, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
In a previous post we have seen a phrase using the name “Rita”. I don’t know why Spaniards have it in for poor Rita, but here’s another “¡Que lo haga Rita!”. This translates to “let Rita do it!”. The colloquial meaning is “let someone else do it!”.
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20May
Categories: Animals, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Ya vendrán las vacas gordas” translates to “the fat cows will come soon”. The idiomatic equivalent in English is “our ship will come in”.
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19May
Categories: Insects, SPEAK Like A Spaniard... Comments: 0
“Meterse en un avispero” means “to get oneself into a hornet’s nest”. The equivalent in English is “to stir up a hornet’s nest”.