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contante y sonante

Meaning: Money in ready cash; actual payment rather than promises or credit.

Language: Spanish

Literally: ready and ringing

Category: Daily Life

Origin: The phrase draws on coins, which ring when struck or dropped, as opposed to paper money or abstract value.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • de Pascuas a Ramos — Once in a blue moon; extremely rarely or at great intervals.
  • Dampf ablassen — To release pent-up emotion or frustration.
  • aus dem Off — to speak or act without drawing attention to oneself, anonymously or from the background.
  • etwas auf die lange Bank schieben — to postpone or delay something indefinitely.
  • in die Quere kommen — to interfere with someone, to get in the way or obstruct.
  • von einem Tag auf den anderen — very quickly, suddenly, or overnight.

More Spanish idioms

  • lobo con piel de cordero — A person who appears harmless or trustworthy but is actually dangerous or deceitful.
  • dar coces contra el aguijón — To resist or rebel futilely against something stronger or inevitable.
  • no ganar para sustos — To be plagued by constant troubles and misfortunes; to suffer setback after setback.
  • perder la chaveta — To go crazy; to lose one's grip on sanity or self-control.
  • con lo puesto — With nothing but the clothes on one's back; in a state of complete destitution.
  • Estar en la edad del pavo — To be at an awkward teenage phase.

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