estar más claro que el agua
Meaning: Something is obvious, evident, and beyond any doubt or confusion.
Language: Spanish
Literally: to be clearer than water
Category: Nature
Origin: Built on a plain, universal sensory comparison rather than any specific historical event: clean water is naturally transparent, letting the eye see straight through to the bottom with nothing obscuring the view, making it a ready-made image for anything equally easy to see through and understand. Because water was and remains one of the most familiar, everyday substances in any culture, it offered an intuitive standard for clarity that needed no specialized knowledge to appreciate — which likely explains why close equivalents to "clearer than water" appear independently across several Romance languages rather than spreading from one single source.
Equivalents in other languages
- German: Klar wie Kloßbrühe — literally: Clear as dumpling broth
- Italian: Non ci piove — literally: It doesn't rain on it
More idioms — Nature
- come hell or high water — no matter what obstacles arise; with absolute determination.
- up the creek without a paddle — in a difficult situation without means to escape.
- take the plunge — to commit to something risky; to make a decisive move.
- go pear-shaped — to go wrong; to develop badly; to become misshapen.
- be on cloud nine — to be extremely happy; in a state of bliss.
- knock on wood — to seek good fortune; to ward off bad luck.
More Spanish idioms
- tener un rabo de paja — To feel guilty or anxious about something, fearing exposure of a personal fault or secret.
- Hablar por los codos — To talk nonstop.
- Costar un ojo de la cara — To be outrageously expensive.
- No hay tu tía — There's no way around it; nothing can be done.
- Estar de Rodríguez — To be a husband left working in town while the family is on holiday.
- Quedarse de piedra — To be stunned speechless.
From our untranslatable words
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- Vergüenza ajena — The squirming embarrassment felt on behalf of another person, who may be entirely untroub…
- Sobremesa — The unhurried conversation that lingers long after a meal, when no one wants to leave the…