#expresiones idiomaticas

[spanishskulduggery]

often i come across sentences in spanish where i know what the words mean separately, but they mean something a bit different when put together so i don't understand it. i can only think of one example right now and it's "qué lindo"

i've seen "qué lindo" often and would translate it as "that's pretty", but my mom said growing up she always understood it to mean "how pretty, so cute!"

i was just wondering if there is a common list of Spanish sentences where the words have different meanings when in a sentence altogether.

So, this may be difficult for me to fully explain [not your question, it's the exact linguistics of it] but I'll do my best

I believe what you're describing is in fact an idiomatic expression; although in my head the qué + something expressions are different than what I'm imagining when I think of idiomatic expressions [I'm thinking like "raining cats and dogs", that sort of thing]

But you're right that it would translate as "how nice/cute" etc

I'll include some of the qué ones - essentially, in this context qué comes out like "how/so" not "what"

qué bien = how nice / that's good / wonderful, great

qué bonito/a = how nice / how cute / lovely qué lindo/a = how nice / how cute / lovely [generally masculine, but could be feminine in some contexts with feminine nouns, because bonito/a and lindo/a are adjectives]

qué lástima = what a shame

qué pena = how sad / what a shame / what a pity

qué asco = how disgusting / that's disgusting / gross

qué rico = delicious, tasty

qué susto = what a fright / that scared me / that was surprising

qué horror = how awful / how horrible, how horrifying / how terrible, how terrifying

qué sorpresa = what a surprise

qué fuerte = so strong / so loud [qué fuerte can also be an expression of surprise or disbelief sort of like saying “oh my God!” or “wow!”; in general though, fuerte means “strong” or when talking about the volume of things it’s “loud”]

qué alivio = what a relief

qué barbaridad = what nonsense

¿Qué más da? = Who cares? / What does it matter? [lit. “what more does it give?”, it’s like “whatever” or an expression of disinterest]

You'll also see them in longer expressions like qué amable eres "you're so nice" or qué asco me das "you disgust me" or "you're gross"

There are quite a lot of these; and with adjectives it can be a little trickier. By themselves like qué bonito could be “so cute” or “how lovely”; if you’re talking about a person or a thing specifically it might change like qué bonito estás or qué bonita estás “how cute you look”; another one is qué guapa estás “you look so pretty” for women

And some other idioms that show up that are more... I don't know, "idiomatic adverbial phrases". They’re idiomatic but it’s less like little sayings and more “oh I need to know this”:

no hay de qué = you’re welcome [more formal than de nada; it’s kind of like “there’s no reason (to thank me)”]

a duras penas = hardly, barely, “by the skin of your teeth” [also seen as apenas which is the same thing]

a lo largo de = throughout

en sí = “in and of itself”

entre sí = amongst themselves

en balde = in vain [also, en vano, but el balde means “bucket” or “pail”]

por lo visto = apparently

de toda la vida = lifelong

a plena luz del día = “in broad daylight” [actually pretty literal, it’s “in full light of day”]

sin rodeos = bluntly, “no beating around the bush”

a tientas = “fumbling”, grasping, by touch [lit. “by touching” or “by reaching out”]

de moda = in fashion, fashionable [used with estar]

a solas = one-on-one, in private [lit. “by alone”]

a espaldas = behind someone’s back, in secret [lit. “by/at backs”]

de oídas = (from) hearsay, he-said-she-said, indirectly, “through the grapevine”

a la vez = simultaneously, at the same time

a su vez = in turn (used as “regarding” or “concerning these” if that makes sense)

a secas = plainly / with nothing else added

sin embargo = nevertheless

no obstante = nevertheless, notwithstanding

por eso = therefore

por supuesto = of course

por consiguiente = consequently, as a consequence

por lo demás = otherwise

por otro lado = “on the other hand” 

en cambio = in exchange, swapped (for), in return

de ida y vuelta = round-trip

de vuelta = on the way back

(el) libre albedrío = free will

(el) ser humano = human being [el ser is “a being”; ser humano can thus be “being human” as a verb or “human being” as a noun; a decent pun]

ni en sueños = “not in my wildest dreams” [lit. “not even in dreams”]

las bellas artes = fine arts [not “beautiful arts” which is everyone’s first instinct]

a largo plazo = long-term

a corto plazo = short-term

mientras tanto = meanwhile

de todo corazón = with all your heart, wholeheartedly

a (la) medida = custom-made, customized

por cierto = “by the way...”

¿Cómo? = Huh? [when it’s not “how”, cómo is the commonly used word for “huh?” or “what’s that?” when you don’t hear someone]

de vez en cuando = from time to time [lit. “from time in when”]

menos mal (que + predicate) = “at least + predicate”, “thankfully...” [lit. “less bad”; you say this very often it’s like looking on the bright side... like menos mal que llegamos temprano “thankfully we got there early” or menos mal que no ha llovido todavía “at least it hasn’t rained yet / at least the rain didn’t start yet”]

de perlas = “(coming) in handy”, useful [lit. “of pearls”; usually used with venir, it’s like me viene de perlas “I could really use this” or “this is really handy (right now)”]

English tends to make a lot of compound words while Spanish doesn’t so much - so recién nacido/a is “newborn” [lit. “recently born”] or recién casado/a is “newlywed” [lit. “recently married”]

All of that to say, they may come across as a bit strange or a LOT strange depending on your current vocabulary and your circumstances

-

Also I’m not including the tener expressions which are common across all Romance Languages; but tener hambre for example is “to be hungry” or tener sueño is “to be sleepy” but literally mean “to have hunger” and “to have dream/sleepiness”... different from tener un sueño “to have a dream” like a goal

The ones that are coming to mind a lot are related to prepositions and there are plenty I’m not including BUT I like scanning wordreference for the ones with a or certain prepositions like a, de and por

And then some basic idiomatic expressions you should maybe know that are kind of like sayings:

(llover) a cántaros = to be raining cats and dogs [lit. “to rain by the bucket/pitcher”]

la media naranja = soulmate, better half [lit. “half an orange”; you may also see this as el alma gemela which is “kindred spirit” or literally “twin soul”]

el mundo es un pañuelo = “what a small world” [lit. “the world is a handkerchief”]

de tal palo tal astilla = chip off the old block, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree [lit. “from such a stick of wood, such a splinter”]

el pez gordo = “important person”, “the boss”, “VIP”, “fatcat”, “head honcho” [lit. “the fat fish”; anyone important could be el pez gordo and it can be said in a tongue in cheek way or seriously; sort of like saying eres el pez gordo “you’re the boss”]

(de) carne y hueso = “flesh and blood” [lit. “flesh/meat and bone”]

entre la espada y la pared = between a rock and a hard place [lit. “between the sword and the wall”]

valer la pena = to be worth it, to be worth the effort [lit. “to be worth the pain/trial/ordeal/sorrow”]

meter la pata = to mess up, to screw up [lit. “to stick one’s foot (in it)”]

la químera = a pipe dream, a fantasy [not just a “chimera”]

(el) terreno pantanoso = “thin ice”, dangerous terrain (sort of like “watch yourself”) [lit. “swampy terrain”]

a lo hecho pecho = what’s done is done [lit. “to what is done, chest”; kind of like “just deal with it” probably related to the heart]

agua pasada no mueve molino = “let bygones be bygones”, “it doesn’t matter now” [lit. “passed water doesn’t move the mill”]

(costar/valer) un ojo de la cara = “(to cost/be worth) an arm and a leg” [lit. “to cost/be worth an eye from the face”]

el príncipe azul = “prince charming”, “knight in shining armor” [lit. “blue prince”, probably related to blue bloods, or nobility]

estar en paz = “to be even”, no one owes anything / debts are settled [lit. “to be at peace”]

tomar el pelo (a alguien) = to fool someone, “to pull someone’s leg” [lit. “to grab the hair (of someone)”]

la flor y la nata = “the best of the best”, “best and brightest” [lit. “flower and cream”]

(de) mala leche = “bad blood” / “in a bad mood” [lit. “bad milk”; it is used very generally and widely, but anything mala leche immediately conjures up extreme negativity when describing people]

(ser) pan comido = “easy-peesy”, (to be) very easy  [lit. “(to be) eaten bread”]

como uña y carne = “thick as thieves”, “the best of friends”, to be inseparable [lit. “to be like a nail (fingernail/toenail) and the flesh/meat”]

a flor de piel = “thin-skinned” / “heart on your sleeve” / “close to the surface” [lit. “to the flower of the skin”... it means that something is very close to the surface of your skin, so it can be that someone’s reaction to something is very obvious, or it can mean that someone is feeling very vulnerable, OR it could mean that someone’s nerves are frayed - it all depends on the context and the other words used. In Spanish if someone has no poker face you can use this expression, or if someone is really on edge you could use this expression. All it means is that something is more obvious than normal and you can clearly see someone’s reactions emotionally]

As always let me know if there are more examples or explanations of things you’d like. I’m not 100% sure I talked about the same things you were asking about

#Spanish #language learning #learn Spanish #langblr #vocabulario #idiomatic expressions #expresiones idiomaticas #language #languages #asks #long post

[aprende-ingles-con-javier]

HEADWAY DE OXFORD El mejor curso de Inglés

¿Por qué es Headway el mejor curso de Inglés?

Estas son algunas de sus características:

Características principales del programa

Enfoque claro y estructurado  en gramática, con introducción de estructuras en contexto y preguntas `para animar a los estudiantes a captar las reglas gramaticales por ellos mismos.

Una «sección de Gramática» al final del libro del estudiante suministra una referencia valiosa, durante la lección o después de esta.

La gramática tiene un lugar central en la enseñanza y aprendizaje.

Una amplia variedad de tareas de práctica en las 4 habilidades básicas: escuchar, hablar, leer y escribir.

Currículo equilibrado, con actividades integradas. Este vocabulario bien definido se concentra en 3 áreas: aprender nuevas palabras en conjuntos léxicos, adquirir buenos hábitos para aprender el vocabulario y desarrollar sistemas de vocabulario tales como  relaciones de sonido y deletreo.

Habilidades comunicativas del mundo real – Inglés del día a día, Inglés hablado, música del Inglés.

Expresiones del día a día, particularmente del inglés hablado, estas pueden ser funcionales, sociales, situacionales o idiomaticas.

Las habilidades integradas trabajan con las actividades de lectura y escucha en cada unidad, contextualizando y juntando el lenguaje aprendido previamente.

Las secciones de escritura unidad a unidad en el Libro del Estudiante ayudan a desarrollar el inglés escrito del estudiante en una variedad de situaciones y registros.

Aprende más del curso de Inglés Headway de Oxford en el siguiente enlace:

DISPONIBLE AQUI:

#ingles #inglesgratis #inglesfacil #inglesprincipiantes #aprenderingles

[luxshine]

¡Hola! Soy una estudiante de español, y estoy buscando por una programa de television que puedo ver en español para practicar mis habilidades de escuchar. Creo que eres un burn persona de preguntar porque tú y yo nos gustan costs como Supernatural y Moon Knight. ¿Tienes recomendaciones? Si no quieres responder, no voy a estar triste si elimina esto.

Hola!

Primero que nada, felicidades por tu buen español.

Yo casi no veo tele en mi idioma, porque como traductora, me empape mas de cosas en ingles, pero pregunte a mis amigos y todos me recomendaron El Ministerio del Tiempo, que es medio onda Dr. Who. Personalmente, puedo decir que vblogs como Leyendas Legendarias y Te lo Resumo! tambien pueden ser buenos, aunque ambos tienen muchas expresiones idiomaticas :)

Ah, y para cualquier cosa, tambien estan abiertos mis asks y dms si tienes dudas del lenguaje (Por ejemplo, es mas natural decir "Estudio español" que "Soy una estudiante de español". Pero de todas maneras lo dijiste bien)

[spanishboone]

"Me debato entre la vida y la muerte"

This Spanish phrase could be translated a few different ways:

I'm fighting for my life

I'm on my death bed(estoy en mi lecho de muerte)

I've got one footnin the grave.

Basically, it means one is close to death. Whether they manage to eacape death is another story....

#spanish #expresiones idiomaticas #languages #idiomatic expressions #langblr #el vocabulario

[salondeidiomas]

Expresiones idiomáticas de las películas Disney

Expresiones idiomáticas de las películas Disney

Hello sweeties! ¿Os gustan las películas de Disney? No digáis que no aunque ya seáis mayores. Seguro que habéis crecido con más de una película de Disney y estamos convencidos de que hay un montón de frases que os han marcado. Hoy os hemos preparado un post de estos para recordar y rememorar con algunas sentencias memorables de estos filmes, desde algunas clásicas a las más modernas. ¿Estáis…

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#ampliar vocabulario en inglés #aprender inglés #aprender ingles gratis #expresiones en ingles disney #expresiones idiomaticas disney #hablar como un nativo #idioms disney #ingles disney #ingles divertido #ingles divertido disney

[centroestudoslinguaespanhola]

#EXPRESIONES#IDIOMATICAS#CELE# #AULAS#ON-LINE# WHATSAPP#[phone]# (en CELE) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHZCczwh9nA/?igshid=1edvryy2lmcux

#expresiones #idiomaticas #cele #aulas #on #5532999884462

[ginesciudadreal]

Inferencias semánticas: Comprensión de expresiones idiomáticas o frases hechas.

Inferencias semánticas: Comprensión de expresiones idiomáticas o frases hechas.

Hoy os traemos una divertida actividad para trabajar la comprensión lectora a través de inferencias semánticas a través de la expresiones idiomáticas o frases hechas. (more…)

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#comprensión lectora #conciencia semántica #expresiones idiomaticas #frases hechas #INFERENCIAS #inferencias semanticas

[lapipadesherlock]

Los idioms son expresiones idiomaticas que se usan dentro d una lengua. Si quieres saber más sobre ellos visitanos en lapipadesherlock.art.blog

¡Te esperamos!

[educaspain]

EducaSpain

Críticas

¡Es pan comido! Expresiones fijas clasificadas en funciones comunicativas ¡Es pan comido! pretende acercar la fraseología a los estudiantes de E/LE. Contiene más de doscientas expresiones fijas. De cada una se proporciona información pragmática y una propuesta de actividades. Incluye un solucionario que facilita el aprendizaje autodidacta. El objetivo que se persigue es que el alumno de ELE pueda reconocer dichas expresiones, las aprenda y las use con éxito a lo largo de una conversación. Así, los destinatarios de este trabajo pueden ser estudiantes de español que quieran preparar el examen DELE Intermedio, autodidactas e, incluso, profesores, puesto que el material puede ser utilizado en las clases. La fraseología española puede parecer dificil pero con este libro será ¡pan comido! Está basado en los contenidos que porpone el Plan curricular del Instituto Cervantes.

Temas de español: Expresiones fijas clasificadas en funciones comunicativas. Estructura del libro: Está estructurado en 28 capítulos en los que se trabajan diferentes contextos y situaciones, como por ejemplo descripciones de carácter, expresar indignación, lástima, nostalgia, desinterés, aceptar consejos, etc. Al final de libro se presentan una serie de actividades recopilatorias de los conceptos aprendidos en los capítulos que componen el libro. Incluye las claves.

Reseña del editor

En este libro se recogen mas de doscientas expresiones idiomaticas y combinaciones de palabras de la lengua espanola utilizadas en diferentes situaciones comunicativas, segun su grado de formalidad. Todas aparecen clasificadas atendiendo a los contenidos funcionales que refleja el Instituto Cervantes en su Plan Curricular. El objetivo que se persigue es que el alumino de E/LE pueda reconocer dichas expresiones, las aprenda y las use con éxito a lo largo de ana conversacion. De esta forma, los destinatarios de este trabajo pueden ser estudiantes de espanol que quieran preparar el examen D.E.L.E Basico, autodidactas e, incluso, profesores, puesto que el material puede ser utilizado en las clases. Nuestro deseo es que este aspecto destacado de nuestra lengua, la fraseologia, pueda ser, como dice et titulo, pan comido. En este libro se recogen mas de doscientas expresiones idiomaticas y combinaciones de palabras de la lengua espanola utilizadas en diferentes situaciones comunicativas, segun su grado de formalidad. Todas aparecen clasificadas atendiendo a los contenidos funcionales que refleja el Instituto Cervantes en su Plan Curricular. El objetivo que se persigue es que el alumino de E/LE pueda reconocer dichas expresiones, las aprenda y las use con éxito a lo largo de ana conversacion. De esta forma, los destinatarios de este trabajo pueden ser estudiantes de espanol que quieran preparar el examen D.E.L.E Basico, autodidactas e, incluso, profesores, puesto que el material puede ser utilizado en las clases. Nuestro deseo es que este aspecto destacado de nuestra lengua, la fraseologia, pueda ser, como dice et titulo, pan comido. [amz_corss_sell asin=”8495986124″]

¡Es pan comido! (Temas de Español) Varios suministros – 1 ene 2008 Críticas ¡Es pan comido! Expresiones fijas clasificadas en funciones comunicativas ¡Es pan comido! pretende acercar la fraseología a los estudiantes de E/LE.

[abroadscooling]

[estudiaronlinegratis]

Curso de ingles 198: English idioms (expresiones idiomaticas en ingles)

Curso de ingles 198: English idioms (expresiones idiomaticas en ingles)

Índice de clases: http://www.spanishfreelessonsonline.com/curso-de-ingles/ Para mirar todas las clases ordenadamente: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utihnWdIci8&list=PLKQEL9j11yiVwyR8XATxfhSTu5UbtL1Hw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/287281051431760/378174629009068 Lección de inglés #198: Hoy aprenderemos varias comunes expresiones idiomáticas en inglés y cómo se usan (English idioms).…

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[spanishskulduggery]

What's the best way to tell someone to mind their own business?

The basic way is: métete en tus asuntos which is literally "put yourself in your affairs/business"

If you want to be kind of sassy and sarcastic about it there's an idiomatic expression for it:

¿Quién te ha dado vela en este entierro? = "Who asked you?" / "This has nothing to do with you."

Literally it's "who gave you a candle in this funeral/burial?"

This idiomatic expression comes from an older custom at funerals to give candles to those closest to the deceased, normally family and friends.

When you say it you're basically saying they're not involved so no one cares what they have to say

-

These are done with tú but you can conjugate the commands themselves; métase en sus asuntos "mind your business" with usted, métanse en sus asuntos for plural/ustedes, and meteos en vuestros asuntos for vosotros

There are other ways to work the phrase in, whether it's subjunctive or past tense etc but the expression is the same - it's almost always meterse en sus asuntos [that's the infinitive form]

And if you're talking impersonally about someone you can say ¿Quién le/les ha dado vela en este entierro? which is like "who asked them?" or "they should just mind their own business" etc

#idiomatic expressions #learn spanish #learning spanish #langblr #spanish #expresiones idiomaticas #asks

[spanishskulduggery]

"Vaya paseo que resultó ser," apparently translate to "Some walk that turned out to be." It kind of makes sense, but I would have thought it would be "Qué paseo" or "What a walk", or something with "Algún". I don´t get what the "vaya" is doing there. What do you think?

Vaya paseo means something like "What a walk" or "What a ride" something like that; the qué is fine, just that vaya is another way to phrase it

In case you don't know, vaya is a subjunctive or imperative conjugation of ir "to go", but it can also be used like ¡Vaya! to mean "Wow!"

So, vaya can be an expression of surprise or to be used similarly to qué with expressions that mean "what a"

Idiomatically it'd be like "heck of a" or something along those lines

-

In Spain, the typical expression though is menudo/a for "what a", so in this case if you were in Spain you might hear menudo paseo to mean something like "what a walk/journey" or sarcastically something like "some walk that turned out to be"

Totally synonymous with the above, just that in Spain you'd be seeing menudo/a more so it makes me think that the sentence I'm seeing is more Latin American but I couldn't tell you with total certainty

#asks #spanish #learning spanish #langblr #idiomatic expressions #expresiones idiomaticas

[spanishskulduggery]

Idiomatic Expressions you can use in pretty much every country

For non-native speakers, “Spanish” as a language is thought of almost as a monolith as if they shared every word and expression

For native speakers and people learning Spanish, you find out all too quickly that Spanish is a language that is full of regionalisms, sometimes varying from country to country, region to region, or even from city to city

So, for everyone’s sake I’ve decided I was going to put together a little list of some idiomatic expressions in Spanish that you can use in (probably? hopefully?) every country and be understood........ or at least i hope so

I mean I can’t 100% promise they’ll be understood in every country - but they should be pretty well understood universally; and some of them make sense just by context and the words being used

Without further ado, some of the most widely understood idiomatic expressions in Spanish:

-

llover a cántaros = “to rain cats and dogs”, to rain a lot [lit. “to rain by the pitcher/jug”]

agua pasada (no mueve molino) = “water under the bridge”, “let bygones be bygones” [lit. “passed water (doesn’t move the mill)”; sometimes people use the whole expression, sometimes people will say es agua pasada “it’s water under the bridge” to mean “it doesn’t matter now”]

menos mal (+ que) = “at least”, “thankfully”, “luckily”, “thank goodness”, “thank God” [lit. “less bad”; sometimes people say it by itself where menos mal comes out like “well at least there’s that” or “it could’ve been worse”... other times people will say it as part of a larger sentence with que like... menos mal que no ha llovido “at least it didn’t rain” or menos mal que tenemos más “good thing we have more”]

entre la espada y la pared = “between a rock and a hard place”, “there’s no easy choice” [lit. “between the sword and the wall”]

meter la pata = “to mess up”, “to screw up”, “to make a mistake” [lit. “to stick one’s foot (in it)”; kind of like “to step in it” similar to English]

tomar el pelo = “to pull someone’s leg”, “to tease”, “to joke with someone” [lit. “to pull/take someone’s hair”]

tocar las pelotas = “to annoy someone”, “to bust someone’s chops” or “to bust someone’s balls” [lit. “to touch/grab someone’s balls”; similar to above but more vulgar and more in the context of making someone angry or trying to “push someone’s buttons” and annoy them]

(ser) pan comido = “easy as cake/pie”, “easy peasy”, when something is easy to do or easily done, simple [lit. “(to be) eaten bread”] 

ser (como) uña y carne = “to be thick as thieves”, to be very close / to be the best of friends, sometimes “inseparable” is the meaning [lit. “to be (like) a fingernail and flesh”; aka “very tight/close”... in some settings it might be uña y mugre “fingernail and grime”]

el príncipe azul = “prince charming”, “knight in shining armor” [lit. “blue prince”; I think the meaning here is derived from sangre azul or “blue blood”, the idea being they’re rich and nobility]

ahogarse en un vaso de agua = to blow something out of proportion, “to make a mountain out of a molehill” [lit. “to drown in a glass of water”]

de tal palo tal astilla = “chip off the old block”, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”; often used in family settings or when someone “takes after” someone else [lit. “from such a stick, such a splinter”... same idea behind “chip off the old block” just with wood instead of stone]

salirse con la suya = “to get away with it”, “to have one’s own way” [lit. “to leave/get away with theirs”; the suya is relative to the person you’re talking about no se va a salir con la suya is “he/she isn’t going to get away with it”, and no te vas a salir con la tuya “you aren’t going to get away with it”; it can be other possessives depending on how you use the expression]

hablar del rey de Roma / hablando del rey de Roma = “speak of the devil” [lit. “to speak of the king of Rome”... it’s a shortened version of hablar del rey de Roma y por la puerta se asoma “speaking of the king of Rome and he comes in the door / leans in the doorway”; sort of like “speak of the devil (and he shall appear)”... this can also be understood as “we were just talking about you” in context]

mosquita muerta = “two-faced”, “a liar”, “manipulative”  [lit. “dead little fly”; this is someone who seems innocent or pretends to be, but is actually THE WORST]

cuando el río suena agua lleva/trae = “where there’s smoke there’s fire” cuando el río suena piedras lleva/trae = “where there’s smoke there’s fire” [lit. “when the river makes noise it brings water” or “when the river makes noise it brings stones”... the version depends on the country, but the idea of the original is “if you hear a river running it’s because of the water”]

la media naranja = “soulmate” [lit. “half an orange”; there is the term el alma gemela which is literally “twin soul” but is like “kindred spirit” (el alma is technically feminine), but la media naranja is especially common for romantic settings; in some cases you’ll see it used as a pun where la media in some countries means “sock” so a media naranja would jokingly show up with an “orange sock” graphic and you see it like “oh I found my media naranja etc”]

tener (la) madera (de algo) = “to have the right stuff (for something)”, “to be made (for something)” [said of qualities people have, literally it’s “to have the wood for” meaning your base or core is correct for it... so you might see tiene madera de líder “he/she has leadership qualities” or looser as “they’re a natural born leader”]

cría cuervos (y te sacarán los ojos) = “if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas” [this is literally “if you raise crows they’ll snatch your eyes”; it’s often said of children when children are brought up a certain way or treated a certain way, or when you enable bad behavior in others, that you shouldn’t be surprised by the result]

(pillar) con las manos en la masa = “(to catch) red-handed” [lit. “(to catch) with one’s hands in the dough”]

el/un pez gordo = “an important person”, “a higher up”, “a fatcat”, “a big cheese” [lit. “the fat fish”; essentially, top of the food chain]

de cabo a rabo = “from cover to cover”, “completely” [lit. “from head to tail”; you usually see this when someone is reading something or looking for something]

de par en par = “wide open” [lit. “from end to end” or “from pair to pair”; it’s used in the case of doors and windows usually, so you see it used with abrir “to open” or sometimes quedar (abierto/a) “to leave open”]

de pies a cabeza = “through and through”, “from head to toe” [lit. “from feet to head”]

a diestra y siniestra = “all over the place”, “left, right, and center” [lit. “to the right and left”; diestro/a is the older word for “right” though it can be “right-handed” today, and siniestro/a is the older word for “left” though it mostly means “sinister” today... the implication was that diestro/a “able” or “competent” referred to right-handed people, and those who were left-handed (zurdo/a today) were considered “sinister” and there was a stigma attached to left-handedness]

no tener pelos en la lengua = “to not mince words”, to be blunt, to be direct [lit. “to not have hairs on the tongue”]

sana sana culito/colita de rana, si no sanas hoy sanarás mañana [this one doesn’t have a good equivalent in English; it’s something often said to children when they’re sick or fall down and get hurt, it’s something like a fake magical spell to take away the pain; adults will jokingly say it to each other when they get sick or minorly hurt; literally it’s “heal, heal, tail/butt of frog [or tadpole tail], if you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow”...... for kids it’s like “kissing a booboo to make it better”]

mala leche = “bad mood” / “bad vibes” [lit. “bad milk”; this expression conjures up bad vibes in general... if someone is de mala leche it generally means they’re very unpleasant to be around and probably a bad person, though it can just mean that someone is temperamental; there are also times when people say de mala leche to mean something feels wrong or there’s bad vibes, and in family you can also use it sometimes to mean “bad blood”... it’s very hard to explain, but just know whenever mala leche comes up, it’s bad news and you need to be aware of it]

pinta bien / pinta mal = “to look good” or “to look bad” / “it’s a good sign” or “it’s a bad sign” [lit. “to paint/signal well” or “to paint/signal bad”; if something pinta mal it’s “it’s not looking good” or “that’s a bad sign”]

ser un detalle = “to be a kind gesture”, “(for something) to be thoughtful and appreciated” [lit. “to be a detail”; when someone does something nice for you, you can say es un detalle, gracias which is something like “that was very nice of you, thanks”]

ser un sol = “to be lovely”, “to be a delight”, “to be nice/kind” [lit. “to be a sun”; you can also say ser un sol de primavera “to be a spring sun” when someone is extra nice and lovely, so if someone does something for you that’s a detalle you can say eres un sol de primavera to acknowledge how nice they are]

estar en paz = “to be even” [lit. “to be at peace”; if you say estamos en paz “we’re even”, it means no one is indebted to the other one]

por la boca muere el pez = “watch what you say” [lit. “by the mouth dies the fish”; the imagery is that a fish gets a hook in its mouth by opening it, so if someone says this phrase they mean “keep your mouth shut” because saying more is dangerous]

más a gusto que un arbusto = “snug as a bug in a rug” [lit. “more to their pleasure than a shrub”, but it’s just for the rhyme, it means someone is cozy]

nunca llueve a gusto de todos = “you can’t please everyone” [lit. “it never rains to the pleasure of all”]

tirar la casa por la ventana = “to spare no expense”, “to go all out” [lit. “to throw the house out (through) the window”]

contra viento y marea = “come hell or high water”, “against all odds” [lit. “against wind and tide”]

la gota que colmó el vaso = “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”, “the last straw” [lit. “the drop that makes the glass overflow”; sometimes it conjugated in present tense like la gota que colma el vaso rather than past tense]

a fin de cuentas = “at the end of the day”, “when all’s said and done” [lit. “at the end of the accounting/count”]

dar en el blanco = “to get it right”, “to hit the bullseye” dar en el clavo = “to get it right”, “to hit the bullseye” dar en la diana = “to get it right”, “to hit the bullseye” [lit. “to strike the target/nail/bullseye” respectively; dar en el clavo is often translated as “to hit the nail on the head” and it is the most common one here in my experience]

al dedillo = “by heart” [lit. “by the little finger”]

de todo corazón = “from the bottom of (one’s) heart” [lit. “with all heart”]

el mundo es un pañuelo = “small world” [lit. “the world is a handkerchief”; this is usually when you see someone you know in a place you didn’t expect them to be, just like in English we say “(it’s a) small world”]

al pie de la letra = “to the letter”, exactly, (following something) meticulously or thoroughly [lit. “to the foot of the letter”]

soltar la sopa = “to spill the beans”, to give someone the story/details [lit. “to release the soup”]

un ojo de la cara = “an arm and a leg”, very expensive [lit. “an eye from the face”, usually used with valer “to be worth” or costar “to cost”, or cobrar “to charge”]

sobre gustos no hay nada escrito = “different strokes for different folks”, “no accounting for taste” para gustos hay colores = “different strokes for different folks”, “no accounting for taste” [lit. “on (the subject of) likes there’s nothing written”, and “for preferences there are colors”; it essentially means everyone likes different things]

valer la pena = to be worth the effort, “worth it” [lit. “to be worth the sorrow/pain”; often conjugated like vale la pena “it’s worth it” or no vale la pena “it’s not worth it”, but it works with any tense assuming you know how to conjugate valer]

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[spanishskulduggery]

Idiomatic Expressions - tener madera (de algo)

Literally this expression means “to have the wood (of something)”

Idiomatically this means “to have the ideal qualities”... in English we say “to have the makings of something”

So for example tener madera de líder means “to have the makings of a leader”

It is extremely common to use this expression with professions and you see it a lot in job offerings or applications.

If you’re using nouns or infinitives, you say tener madera para algo 

tener madera de líder = to have the makings of a leader, to be a natural born leader tener madera para ser líder = to have the makings of a leader, to be a natural born leader

tener madera de abogado/a = to have the makings of a lawyer tener madera para la abogacía = to have a knack for being a lawyer, to have natural skills in advocacy

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[spanishskulduggery]

Idiomatic Expression - ser un caco

This one might be out of fashion now, but every so often you’ll see the expression un caco 

This is a way of saying “thief”, as opposed to the common everyday word for thief which is el ladrón / la ladrona. According to my sources it also referred to “coward”, but now it’s pretty much exclusively a fun way to say “thief”

The etymology here is related to the story of Cacus, a giant in Greek/Roman mythology. The gist of the story is that Hercules had some cattle, and a giant named Cacus (who was a real jerk to everyone) stole some of the cattle from Hercules. Hercules got mad and went after Cacus, and then Cacus tried to hide in a cave and block the entrance. Hercules was having none of it, and Hercules killed Cacus

And so now in Spanish un caco means “thief” sometimes

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