IdiomDaily Life
Spanish
Spanishvender la moto
Meaning: To trick or deceive someone, often by persuading them to believe a false story.
Literally: To sell the motorcycle
Example: “Me vendieron la moto con ese curso de inglés en dos semanas.” — They sold me a bill of goods with that learn-English-in-two-weeks course.
English equivalent: To sell someone a bill of goods
Other ways to say this
- Spanish: Dar gato por liebre Literally: To give cat instead of hare
Croatian: Prodavati maglu Literally: To sell fog
Dutch: knollen voor citroenen verkopen Literally: To sell turnips for lemons
English: sell someone a bill of goods
Origin: Selling someone the motorcycle is talking them into buying, or believing, something worthless. The RAE dictionary lists vender la moto a alguien, and Spanish has made a noun of it, a vendemotos (a con artist or smooth talker). Its first use is not documented.
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- éramos pocos y parió la abuela as if that wasn't enough, things went from bad to worse.
- mal trago a difficult or unpleasant experience; a bitter pill to swallow.
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- Cada loco con su tema Everyone has their own fixations and tastes; let them be.
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- Loro viejo no aprende a hablar It is hard to learn new things when you are old.
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