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Ser uña y carne

Meaning: To be inseparable; the closest of friends.

Language: Spanish

Literally: To be fingernail and flesh

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: Nail and the flesh beneath it cannot be parted without pain — the Spanish picture of a bond that simply won't separate.

More idioms — Body & Senses

  • Fare le corna — To ward off bad luck — or to signal that a partner is being unfaithful.
  • Stare con le mani in mano — To stand around doing nothing while others work.
  • 腹が黒い — Scheming and malicious behind a friendly face.
  • Зарубить на носу — To remember something firmly, once and for all.
  • Iets onder de knie hebben — To have mastered a skill.
  • اللي على راسه بطحة بيحسس عليها — The guilty person gives himself away.

More Spanish idioms

  • Dar gato por liebre — To swindle by passing off something inferior as the real thing.
  • Importar un pepino — To not care in the slightest.
  • Ponerse las pilas — To get your act together and start working hard.
  • Estar en el ajo — To be in on a secret or scheme.
  • Ser la oveja negra — To be the outcast of the family or group.
  • Echar leña al fuego — To make a bad situation worse.

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