Spanish Idioms
A curated set of 36 idioms in Spanish — literal translations, real meanings, and where each one comes from.
- Estar en la edad del pavo — To be at an awkward teenage phase. Literally: To be in the age of the turkey.
- Tener mala leche — To be in a foul mood or have bad intentions. Literally: To have bad milk.
- No tener pelos en la lengua — To speak very bluntly and honestly. Literally: To have no hairs on the tongue.
- Ser pan comido — To be extremely easy. Literally: To be eaten bread.
- Dar calabazas — To reject someone romantically. Literally: To give someone pumpkins.
- Estar como una cabra — To be completely crazy. Literally: To be like a goat.
- Tirar la casa por la ventana — To spare no expense; to go all out. Literally: To throw the house through the window.
- Meter la pata — To make a blunder or put your foot in it. Literally: To put the paw in.
- Tomar el pelo — To pull someone's leg; to tease. Literally: To take someone's hair.
- Ponerse las botas — To stuff yourself with food or to profit greatly. Literally: To put on the boots.
- estar en la luna de Valencia — Completely distracted or absent-minded, oblivious to what's happening around you. Literally: to be in the moon of Valencia.
- irse por los cerros de Úbeda — To digress or wander off-topic during conversation without purpose or reason. Literally: to go off into the hills of Úbeda.
- comerse un rosco — To fail completely or strike out; to get nothing at all in a romantic or competitive context. Literally: to eat a ring-shaped pastry.
- estar más claro que el agua — Something is obvious, evident, and beyond any doubt or confusion. Literally: to be clearer than water.
- tener un rabo de paja — To feel guilty or anxious about something, fearing exposure of a personal fault or secret. Literally: to have a straw tail.
- Hablar por los codos — To talk nonstop. Literally: To talk through the elbows.
- Costar un ojo de la cara — To be outrageously expensive. Literally: To cost an eye from the face.
- No hay tu tía — There's no way around it; nothing can be done. Literally: There is no your aunt.
- Estar de Rodríguez — To be a husband left working in town while the family is on holiday. Literally: To be a Rodríguez.
- Quedarse de piedra — To be stunned speechless. Literally: To be left as stone.
- Ser uña y carne — To be inseparable; the closest of friends. Literally: To be fingernail and flesh.
- Dar gato por liebre — To swindle by passing off something inferior as the real thing. Literally: To give cat instead of hare.
- Importar un pepino — To not care in the slightest. Literally: To matter a cucumber.
- Ponerse las pilas — To get your act together and start working hard. Literally: To put your batteries in.
- Estar en el ajo — To be in on a secret or scheme. Literally: To be in the garlic.
- Ser la oveja negra — To be the outcast of the family or group. Literally: To be the black sheep.
- Echar leña al fuego — To make a bad situation worse. Literally: To throw wood on the fire.
- Tener más cara que espalda — To be utterly shameless and brazen. Literally: To have more face than back.
- Tener mala uva — To have a nasty temper or ill intentions. Literally: To have bad grape.
- Ponerse como una sopa — To get soaked to the bone. Literally: To get like a soup.
- Estar hasta en la sopa — To be everywhere; impossible to avoid. Literally: To be even in the soup.
- Buscarle tres pies al gato — To overcomplicate things; to look for trouble. Literally: To look for three feet on the cat.
- Estar frito — To be fed up or worn out. Literally: To be fried.
- No dar pie con bola — To get everything wrong; to do nothing right. Literally: To not give foot to ball.
- Estar en Babia — To be daydreaming and miles away. Literally: To be in Babia.
- Tener la sartén por el mango — To be the one in control. Literally: To hold the frying pan by the handle.
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