As requested by @bunnies-study , here is a list of Spanish idioms I have encountered in my studies! Remember that I got some of these from travelling to Spain, and castellano (Castilian Spanish) is quite different from latino (Latin American Spanish). Which was confusing for me, since I actually learned latino in my classes here and had no idea what was going on over there for the first few days. I’ll try my best to accurately mark which ones are castellano and which ones are latino, and as always native speakers are welcome to correct me and add on to my posts! It’s how I learn.
First, the “normal” ones.
Here are some that translate almost literally.
Donde fuego se hace, humo sale. (latino)
Where there’s smoke, there’s a fire.
El amor todo lo puede. (latino)
Love will find a way.
El amor es ciego, pero los vecinos no. (latino)
Love is blind, but the neighbors aren’t.
El silencio es oro. (latino)
Silence is golden.
Más vale tarde que nunca. (latino)
Better late than never.
En boca cerrada no entran moscas. (latino)
A closed mouth gathers no flies.
Ones that parallel English but aren’t literally the same.
Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente. (latino)
lit. Eyes that don’t see, heart that doesn’t feel.
Out of sight, out of mind.
No se puede servir a Dios y al diablo. (latino)
lit. One can’t serve G*d and the devil.
No man can serve two masters.
Me importa un pimiento. (castellano)
lit. It’s as important as a pepper.
Often used in the context of “I couldn’t care less” or to say something isn’t worth the time or effort.
Las palabras se las lleva el viento. (latino)
lit. The words are gone with the wind.
Actions speak louder than words.
Consejos vendo y para mí no tengo. (latino)
lit. Advice I sell don’t have.
Do as I say, not as I do.
Es mono/a. (castellano)
lit. He/she/it is a monkey.
Used in Spain only to call something/someone “adorable.” Very confusing to me at first, as I was sure that the dogs were being called monkeys.
De tal palo tal astilla. (latino)
lit. Of such stick such splinter.
Like father like son/like mother like daughter/a chip off the old block.
And my personal favorite, from Mexico:
Salir de Guatemala para entrar en Guatepeor. (latino)
lit. To leave Guate-bad and enter Guate-worse.
I love this, mostly because it’s a pun off the fact that “mala” is the feminine version of bad. It means “to go from bad to worse” or, as English-speakers typically say, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
When I went to Spain, I was rather shocked by how many phrases included “milk” but did not mean milk. These are all Castellano idioms.
¡Es la leche!
lit. It’s the milk!
To the effect of “It’s really cool!”
Estar de mala leche.
lit. To be of bad milk
To be in a bad mood.
Ser la leche.
lit. To be the milk.
To either be really great or really bad. An example would be: Se cree la leche - He thinks he’s all that. || Ella es la leche - She’s awful.
¡Me cago en la leche!
lit. I crap in the milk!
Typically a replacement for “Damn it!” such as in the case of “Damn it! Where are my keys?”
