Spanish Saying June 27, 2008

Here’s a saying with the same meaning, but using different animals: “to put the cart before the horse”. In Spain, one puts the cart before the mules, as in “poner el carro delante de las mulas”.

Spanish Idiom June 26, 2008

When a person imitates someone we call him a “copycat”. In Spanish they use a “monkey”, as in “mono de imitacion”.

Spanish Idiom June 25, 2008

“Entre gallos y media noche” literally means “between roosters and midnight”. In English, we would say “at an ungodly (unearthly) hour”.

Spanish Idiom June 24, 2008

“Queda el rabo por desollar” literally translates to “there remains the tail to skin”. The colloquial translation is “the worst is yet to come”.

Spanish Idiom June 23, 2008

“Ser el ultimo mico” literally translates to “to be the last monkey”. Equivalents in English include “pipsqueak”, “lowest of the low” and “not to count”.

Spanish Idiom May 30, 2008

Here’s a nearly identical idiom: “free as a bird”, which in Spanish is “mas libre que un pajaro”. It is interesting to note that sayings in English like this one makes the comparison equivalent, whereas the Spanish version raises it a level, i.e. “freer than a bird”. This pattern recurs frequently in idioms or sayings that are similar in English and Spanish.

Spanish Saying May 19, 2008

“Cada mochuelo a su olivo” literally translates to “each little owl to its olive tree”. The colloquial meaning is “everyone about his own business” or “everyone to his own home”.

Spanish Idiom May 1, 2008

There are at least 50 different ways to say “being drunk” in Spanish, and some day I will list them. One version is “coger una merluza”, which literally means “to grab a hake”.  Hake is a very popular fish in Spain.

Spanish Saying April 29, 2008

“The early bird catches the worm” has in its Spanish equivalent a different prize for early risers: “El que madruga coge la oruga”. The literal translation is “He who rises early gets the caterpillar”.  The worm (gusano) may have been sacrificed in order for the phrases to rhyme.

Spanish Idiom April 28, 2008

In English, we often hear the phrase “like a deer in the headlights”  to describe someone who is “scared stiff”.  Spanish has a similar phrase involving deer: “tener un miedo cerval”, which literally means “to have a cervine fear”.