Spanish Idiom July 21, 2008

“Ir como alma que lleva el diablo” literally translates to “to go like soul that the devil carries away”. In English we might say “to run like hell”.

Spanish Idiom June 10, 2008

“Quedarse para vestir santos” literally means “to stay to dress saints”. The colloquial translation is “to remain an old maid”.

Spanish Saying June 6, 2008

“Todos los santos tienen novena” literally translates to “all the saints have a novena”. The equivalent in English would be “your day will come”.

Spanish Saying April 18, 2008

When someone is close to dying we might use the phrase “To be at death’s door” or “To have one foot in the grave”. One similar saying in Spanish is “Estar con el alma en la boca”, which literally means “To be with the soul in the mouth”.

Spanish Idiom March 14, 2008

“misa de gallo” literally means “mass of rooster”. The colloquial translation is “midnight mass”.

Spanish Idiom February 12, 2008

“Encender (poner) una vela a Dios y otra al diablo” translates to “To light one candle to God and another to the devil”. The somewhat archaic equivalent in English is “To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds”. A more contemporary version is “To play both sides of the fence”.

Spanish Idiom January 8, 2007

“Llegar y besar el santo” literally means “To arrive and kiss the saint”.  Some equivalent colloquialisms in English are: “As easy as pie”; “a piece of cake”; and “like taking candy from a baby”.  Interesting that the versions in English are food related.

Spanish Idiom December 21, 2007

In previous postings we have seen Spanish versions of the saying “To fall out of the frying pan into the fire”. Here is another one that is religious based: “Andar de Herodes a Pilato”, which means “To go from Herod to Pilate”.

Spanish Idiom December 14, 2007

In previous postings we’ve seen how to say “once in a blue moon” in Spanish. Here’s another version with a religious twist: “cada muerte de obispo”, which literally translates to “each death of bishop”.

Spanish Idiom November 21, 2007

Here are some idioms with a common theme involving saints, weather, ethnicity and fruit.

“Veranillo de San Juan” literally means “Little summer of Saint John”. The idiomatic translation is “warm spell in June”. The only similar saying in English that I can think of is “dog days of summer”. “Veranillo de San Martin (San Miguel)”  has as its equivalent in English “Indian summer”. Another Spanish version is “veranillo del membrillo”, a “membrillo” being a “quince”.