Idioms Flashcards
To master common idiomatic expressions
Worse things happen at sea
Collins
Más se perdió en Cuba
There’s no accounting for taste
Collins
Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito
Till all hours
We were chatting till all hours
Collins
Hasta las tantas
Estuvimos charlando hasta las tantas
To be bored stiff / to death
I am as bored as an oyster
Collins
Aburrirse como una ostra
Me aburro como una ostra
To be in no mood for fun and games
I’m in no mood for fun and games today
Collins
No estar para fiestas
Hoy no estoy para fiestas
To go smoothly
Everything is going smoothly
Collins
ir sobre ruedas
Todo va sobre ruedas
My dream
It’s my ultimate dream
Collins
Mi sueño dorado
Es mi sueño dorado
To shake like a leaf
When the interview started, I was shaking like a leaf (flan)
Collins
Temblar como un flan
Cuando comenzó la entrevista, temblaba como un flan
What’s got into him? Who rattled his cage?
Collins
Qué mosca le habrá picado?
To swear profusely (like a trooper) / to let rip
Is this an irreversible binomial?
Collins
Miguel not heard this
Soltar ajos y cebollas
To have a face a mile long
Lit. To have a face like a Swiss chard
Collins
Tener cara de acelga
To pull a fast one on somebody
Lit. To give someone cat instead of hare
Collins
Dar a alguien gato por liebre
Truth will out
Lit. Lies have short legs
Collins
Las mentiras tienen patas cortas
Pull the other one
Lit. Tell that one to your grandmother
Collins
Cuéntaselo a tu abuela
My other half / soul-mate
Collins
Mi media naranja
To refuse to back down
L.t To not get down from your donkey
Collins
No apearse del burro
You can never please everyone
It never rains to everyone’s taste
Collins
Nunca llueve a gusto de todos
To bad mouth somebody / slag somebody off
Lit. To talk pests about someone
Collins
Hablar pestes de alguien
To stick out like a sore thumb
Lit. To be like a guitar at a funeral
Collins
Ser como guitarra en un entierro
To put your foot in it
Lit. To dip your leg
Collins
Meter la pata
As red as a beetroot
Lit. As red as a tomato
Collins
Como un tomate
I wasn’t born yesterday
To have been born yesterday
Collins
No me he caído del guindo
Haberse caído del guindo
To be really smart (smarter than Lepe)
Lepe - 17th century bishop famed for cleverness
Collins
Ser más listo que Lepe
To know absolutely everything
Lit. To know the bible in verse
Collins
Saber la biblia en verso
To know (be familiar) something like the back of your hand
Collins
Conocer algo como la palma de la mano
To get the wrong end of the stick
Not at all common
Collins
Lit. To take hold of the radish by the leaves
Tomar el rábano por las hojas
To be full of yourself / blow your own trumpet
Lit. To not need a grandmother (to blow your trumpet)
Collins
No necesitar abuela
To be as bald as a coot
Lit. To have a head like a billiard ball
Collins
Tener la cabeza como una bola de billar
To get (seek) a lot of media attention
Lit. To suck the camera
Collins
Chupar cámara
To be as mad as a hatter
Lit. To be more mad than a goat
Collins
Estar más loco que una cabra
As dumb as an ox
Lit. More stupid than a plough
Collins
Más bruto que un arado
To be a bit dim / not very bright
Lit. To be of few lights
Collins
Ser de pocas luces
To be as thick as two short planks
Lit. Not to have two fingers of forehead
Collins
No tener dos dedos de frente
They are birds of a feather
Lit. To be wolves form one litter
Collins
Son lobos de una camada
To be inseperable
To be fingernail and flesh
Collins
Ser uña y carne
Possible irreversible binomial?
Let’s not confuse matters / muddle things
Lit. One mustn’t confuse gymnastics with magnesium
Collins
No hay que confundir la gimnasia con la magnesia
Pigs might fly
Lit. When frogs grow hair
Collins
Cuando las ranas críen pelo
To make a mountain out of a molehill
Lit. To drown in a glass of water
Collins
Ahogarse en un vaso de agua
Ella se ahoga en un vaso de agua
To jump out of the frying pan into the fire / go from bad to worse
Lit. To go from Guatelmala to Guata worse
Collins
Ir de Guatemala a Guatapeor
To be between a rock and a hard place / the devil and the deep blue sea
Lit. To be between the sword and the wall
Collins
Estar entre la espada y la pared
To ask for the impossible
Lit. To ask an elm tree for pears
Collins
Pedir peras al olmo
To throw a spanner in the works
Lit. To dip/insert sticks in the wheels
Collins
Meter palos en las ruedas
It’s a piece of cake / easy as pie
Lit. It is eaten bread
Collins
Es pan comido
Life is no bed of roses
Lit. Not all the hillside is oregano
Collins
No todo el monte es orégano
In a flash / in no time
Lit. In two kicks
Collins
En dos patadas
To be in charge / call the shots
Lit. To cut the cod
Collins
Cortar el bacalao
Miguel: very common; good colloquial expression.
To be in charge
Lit. To carry the (conductor’s) baton
Collins
Llevar la batuta
To the letter (exactly)
Lit. To the foot of the letter
Collins
Al pie de la letra
To work your socks off / work like a dog
Lit. To work like a donkey
Collins
Trabajar como un burro
To work very hard / slog away
Lit. To work like an ant
Collins
Trabajar como una hormiga
Some do all the work, others take all the credit
Lit. Card the wool
Collins
Unos cardan la lana y otros cobran la fama
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Lit. Zamora wasn’t won in a hour
Collins
No se ganó Zamora en una hora
Let’s move on to something else
Lit. To something else, butterfly
Collins
A otra cosa, mariposa
Miguel - known but not very common in Balearics
At the back of beyond
Lit. In the fifth hell
Collins
En el quinto infierno
Vive en el quinto infierno
To be off like a shot / rush off / dash off
(I’m sorry, I have to dash)
To go away whistling
Collins
Irse pitando
(Lo siento, me tengo que ir pitando)
He dashed off: Se fue pitando
Miguel: muy commún
To thumb (a lift)
Collins
Hacer dedo
Just in case / to be on the safe side
Lit. In case the flies
Collins
Por si las moscas
To stuff your face
Lit. To eat with two cheeks
Collins
Comer a dos carrillos
To live like a king
Lit. To live like the body of a king
Collins
Vivir a cuerpo de rey
Also (Miguel): vive como un rey. Very common.
To drink like a fish
Lit. To drink like a sponge
Collins
Beber como una esponja
As drunk as a skunk / completely plastered
Lit. As drunk as a wine barrel
Collins
Borracho como una cuba
By the bucketload
Lit. In industrial quantities
Collins
En cantidades industriales
Watch pronunciation of i - should be een-dustr–ee-ales
To sleep on it
Lit. To consult the pillow
Collins
Consultarlo con la almohada
To not mince your words
Lit. Not to have hairs on your tongue
Collins
No tener pelos en la lengua
To sit on the fence
Lit. To swim between two waters
Collins
Nadar entre dos aguas
It goes without saying
Lit. It falls as a result of its own weight
Collins
Se cae por su propio peso
To be rolling in it
Lit. To swim in abundance
Collins
Nadar en la abundancia
To spare no expense
Lit. To throw the house through the window
Collins
Tirar la casa por la ventana
To go on and on / drone on
Lit. To roll up like a blind
Collins
Enrollarse como una persiana
To stick your oar in
Lit. To put (dip) in the spoon
Collins
Meter la cuchara
to take charge
Miguel
coger la sartén por el mango
More taking charge than grasping nettle
It’s too late now / you’ve missed the boat
Lit: In good time green sleeves
Helí / Collins
A buenas horas mangas verdes
His bark is worse than his bite
Lit: Bark a lot, bite little
Helí
Perro ladrador poco mordedor
We all make mistakes
Lit: He who has a mouth makes mistakes
Helí
El que tiene boca, se equivoca
We should not pay attention to impertinent comments
Helí
A palabras necias, oídos sordos
No debemos hacer caso a comentarios impertinentes
To put on a brave face
Helí
Al mal tiempo, buena cara
Si algo va mal, es mejor enfrentarlo con buena actitud
He who does not object, approves what the other says
Helí
El que calla, otorga
Quien no presenta objeción, aprueba lo que dice el otro
Silence is golden
Better keep quiet and be thought fool, than open your mouth remove doubt
Helí
En boca cerrada, no entran moscas
Es mejor no hablar para evitar meter la pata
Each person has their own method
Helí
Cada maestrillo tiene su librillo
Cada persona tiene una manera distinta de actuar
Don’t judge a book by its cover / appearances can be deceptive
Helí / Collins
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