In English, when we want to describe something that is undecided we might use the phrase “It’s still up in the air” or “The jury’s still out”. In Spanish, one equivalent is “La pelota esta aun en el tejado”, which literally means “The ball is still on the roof”.
We all know the French saying “C’est la vie”. In English, we might say: “That’s the way the cookie crumbles”. Spaniards use a sports based phrase: “Asi es el futbol”, which means “That’s the way soccer is”.
A couple of idioms employing the verb “chupar”, which means “to suck”. “Chupar banquillo” literally translates as “to suck the bench”, a sports term. In English we might say that a “bench-warmer” “rides the pine”. “Chuparle el dinero a uno” translates literally to “to suck money out of someone”. In English we would say “to bleed someone of money”.
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”.
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”.
