Given that it’s Halloween, here are two idioms that describe what can happen with fear.
“El miedo pone espuelas” literally translates to “Fear puts spurs”. The equivalent in English is “Fear gives wings to the feet”.
“Dejar a uno en la estacada” literally means “To leave someone in the stockade”. In English we’d say “To leave someone in the lurch” or “To leave someone high and dry”.
A few idioms using “oro” or “gold”.
“Oros son triunfos” literally tarnslates to “Golds are triumphs”. The colloquial equivalent is “It’s money that counts” or “Money talks”.
“Tener voz de oro” literally means “to have a voice of gold” - the colloquial meaning is self-evident, but it does bring to mind the phrase “hablar en plata” which translates to “to speak in silver”. The idiomatic meaning is “to speak plainly”.
“Libro de oro” means “book of gold”. In English we know it it as a “visitors’ book”.
A couple of “hand” (mano) related idioms. “Con una mano atras y otra delante” literally translates to “with one hand behind and another in front”. The colloquial translation is “empty-handed”. “Tener mano izquierda” means “To have a left hand”. Given all the perjorative connotations of “left” in English, one might think the idiomatic meaning would be negative. But no. The phrase means “To have one’s wits about one. Now for the perjorative “left” based terms” “a left-handed compliment”; “gauche”; “sinister” and “to be out in left field”.
When something is very easy we might say “It’s as easy as falling off a log”. In Spanish an equivalent is “Es mas facil que beber un vaso de agua” which means “It’s easier than drinking a glass of water”. When we do something without understanding the potential consequences we are said “Not to know what one is letting himself in for”. The Spanish counterpart is “No saber lo que se pesca” which translates to “Not to know what you’re fishing.
Here are two idioms using “esponja” which means “sponge”.
“Tirar (arrojar) la esponja” translates to “To throw in the sponge”. We use this phrase in English, but at least in the U.S. the more common version is “To throw in the towel”, which has its origin in boxing.
“Pasemos la esponja por eso” literally translates to “Let’s pass the sponge over that”. The colloquial translation is “Let bygones be bygones” or “Let’s not talk about that any more”.
When someone has a propensity toward theft, in English we describe him as “light-fingered”. In Spanish, such a person would be said to have “long hands” as in “Tener las manos largas”.
“Si escupes al cielo en la cara te caera” translates to “If you spit up into the sky in the face it will fall on you”. The equivalent in English sounds a bit old-fashioned: “Chickens and curses come home to roost”.
Here are some money “dinero” related sayings.
“De dineros y bondad quita siempre la mitad” literally means “From money and goodness always subtract half”. The equivalent saying in English is very close: “Believe only half of what you hear of a man’s wealth and goodness”.
In English, when we squander funds we are said “To throw money down the drain”. In Spanish we would throw it out the window, as in “Tirar dinero por la ventana”.
In English, when someone treats us poorly and we reciprocate the behavior, there are several idioms that come to mind: “To give someone a taste of his own medicine”; “To give tit for tat”‘ and “To return the favor”. An equivalent Spanish saying has a sports related spin: “Rechazar (devolver) la pelota a alguien” which literally means “To return the ball to someone”.
Here are two idioms involving “hair” or “pelo”. They’re under the category of anatomy, but “pelo” probably desrves its own category given the number of idioms related to it.
“Escapar (librarse) por los pelos” literally means “to escape by the hairs”. The colloquial translation is “To escape by the skin of one’s teeth”.
“No tener pelos en la lengua” literally translates as “Not to have hairs on one’s tongue”. The idiomatic equivalent in English is “Not to mince words”.
