tomar el toro por los cuernos
Meaning: To face a difficult problem directly and courageously rather than avoiding it.
Language: Spanish
Literally: to take the bull by the horns
Category: Animals
Origin: The image is of confronting a dangerous beast head-on by seizing it at its most dangerous point—a metaphor for brave, direct action in the face of a threat.
More idioms — Animals
- 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.
- sich die Hörner abstoßen — To shed youthful recklessness and settle into maturity.
- ein Esel schimpft den andern Langohr — A person criticizes another for the same fault they themselves possess.
- bei der Stange halten — to keep someone obedient, loyal, or in line through discipline or pressure.
- keine zehn Pferde — nothing could force or move one; obstinate refusal or immovable determination.
More Spanish idioms
- cortar por lo sano — To sever a problem decisively rather than manage it halfway, making a clean break or radi…
- caer en gracia — To charm someone instantly or be liked right away.
- de tres al cuarto — Worthless, shoddy, or of poor quality.
- venir mal dadas — For things to go wrong or turn out badly.
- hacer antesala — To wait in an outer room or lobby, often in a position of subordination or anticipation.
- lío de faldas — A romantic or sexual entanglement with a woman; an affair.
From our tongue twisters
- Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.
- Parangaricutirimícuaro — Not a sentence but a single word — a legendary 22-letter pronunciation challenge from a r…
- Pablito clavó un clavito, ¿qué clavito clavó Pablito? — A bouncy drill on the 'cl' cluster.