Cyphernaut - Idiomatic Expressions (Spanish-Español)
According to the dictionary, an idiom is an accepted phrase or expression having a different meaning from the literal meaning of each individual word. They are many common idiomatic expressions in English such as "Silence is golden" and "You're pulling my leg". It's interesting to see that some idiomatic expressions in English don't make as much sense in Spanish when taken literally.
The table below presents some common English idiomatic expressions and their corresponding translation in Spanish.
| Idiomatic Expressions | |
|---|---|
| English | Spanish |
| Silence is golden. or Loose lips sink ships. |
En boca cerrada no entran moscas. (Literal trans. In a closed mouth, no flies enter.) |
| To each his own. | Cada loco con su tema. (Literal trans. Each madman with his own subject.) |
| Rome wasn't built in a day. | No se ganó Zamora en una hora. (Literal trans. Zamora was not won in an hour. Zamora is a town in Spain which was the scene of fierce fighting in the fifteenth century, between the supporters of Isabella the Catholic and Juana la Beltraneja.) |
| Every cloud has a silver lining. | No hay mal que por bien no venga. (Literal trans. There is no bad from which good doesn't come.) |
| Is the coast clear? | ¿Hay moros en la costa? (Literal trans. Are there Moors on the coast?) |
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. | Más vale un pájaro en mano que cien volando. (Literal trans. A bird in the hand is worth more than one hundred flying.) |
| You're pulling my leg. | A otro perro con ese hueso. (Literal trans. To another dog with that bone.) |
| Speak of the devil. | Habla del rey de Roma. (Literal trans. Speak of the king of Rome.) |
| Look before you leap. | Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces. (Literal trans. Before you marry look what you are doing.) |
| He's got half a brain. or He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. |
No tiene dos dedos de frente. (Literal trans. He doesn't have two fingers of forehead.) |
| It's raining cats and dogs. | Está lloviendo a cántaros. (Literal trans. It's raining pitchers.) |
| Like father, like son. | El hijo de la gata, ratones mata. (Literal trans. The son of the cat kills mice.) |
| There's more than one way to skin a cat. | Cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas. (Literal trans. Everyone has their own way to kill fleas.) |