IdiomAnimals
Spanish
SpanishSer la oveja negra
Meaning: To be the outcast of the family or group.
Literally: To be the black sheep
Example: “Por dejar el negocio familiar, lo llaman la oveja negra.” — For leaving the family business, they call him the black sheep.
English equivalent: Black sheep
Origin: A black sheep stood out in a white flock, and its wool is usually said to have been worth less because it could not be dyed, so the black sheep came to stand for the member of a family or group who does not fit or brings it shame. The figure is shared across Europe: English "black sheep," German schwarzes Schaf, Portuguese ovelha negra. Spanish also says garbanzo negro (black chickpea).
Equivalents in other languages
English: black sheep
More Spanish idioms
- Echar leña al fuego To make a bad situation worse.
- Tener más cara que espalda To be utterly shameless and brazen.
- Tener mala uva To have a nasty temper or ill intentions.
- Ponerse como una sopa To get soaked to the bone.
- Estar hasta en la sopa To be everywhere; impossible to avoid.
- Buscarle tres pies al gato To overcomplicate things; to look for trouble.
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