One of the joys of learning a language is gaining an understanding of more than just the standard words and phrases. Idioms not only give us an insight into a culture—they’re also fun to use because they rarely translate literally into what they mean. English speakers will use phrases like cold feet or on the same page without a thought, for example, but a non-native English speaker might struggle to grasp what they’re trying to say.
According to Babbel, there are more native Spanish speakers in the world (485 million) than English speakers, so it’s a very useful language to know. If you want to take your Spanish to the next level (or el siguiente nivel), why not brush up on these idioms?
1. En todas las familias, hay un muerto en el armario
We all know the phrase about skeletons in closets, right? This is the Spanish equivalent, which literally translates to “in every family there is a dead person in the closet.”
2. Encontrar tu media naranja
If you’re lucky enough “to find your half orange,” or encontrar tu media naranja, then you’ve found the love of your life.
3. Como Pedro por su casa
This phrase is used to describe someone who is swanning around acting as if they own the place—“like Peter in his own house.”
4. Sin pelos en la lengua
Someone without hairs on their tongue (sin pelos en la lengua) is a person who always speaks their mind.
5. Estar en la luna de Valencia
Estar en la luna de Valencia literally means “to be on the moon of Valencia,” but it has nothing to do with the city in Spain and everything to do with to someone who is absent-minded or in a dream world.
6. Me comería una vaca
Ravenous English speakers might say they could eat a horse. In Spanish, it’s me comería una vaca, or “I would eat a cow.”
7. Más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer
This phrase loosely translates to “Much better the bad you know than the good you don’t”—or as English speakers might say, “Better the devil you know.”
8. Esta en el quinto pino
Esta en el quinto pino, “to be in the fifth pine,” is to be very far away or out in the sticks.
9. Buscarle tres pies al gato
This phrase, which translates to “to look for three feet on the cat,” means “to go looking for trouble.”
10. Directo al grano
Directo al grano means “straight to the grain” and is perfect when you want to tell someone to cut to the chase.
11. Dar la vuelta a la tortilla
You might flip an omelette while cooking, but in Spanish, to “turn the omelette around” (dar la vuelta a la tortilla) means you’re changing things completely or turning a situation around.
12. Entre la espada y la pared
If you’re entre la espada y la pared, or “between the sword and the wall,” then you’re in the unenviable position of choosing between two evils, much like the English phrase between a rock and a hard place.
13. Sin saber ni jota
If you say “without knowing a jot” you mean “without knowing a thing.” Aprobé el examen sin saber ni jota means “I passed the exam without knowing a thing.”
15. Estar en su salsa
Fortunately, estar en su salsa, “to be in their sauce,” doesn’t indicate a kitchen disaster—the person in their sauce is just in their element.
14. Meter la pata
Meter la pata, “to put the leg in it,” is similar to the English put your foot in it—you’ve made a mistake.
16. No se me caen los anillos
If you say “no se me caen los anillos,” or “I don’t let my rings fall off,” you’re saying that you don’t feel a menial task is beneath you or you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty. (It can also be used in a critical way to tell a person that performing a particular task isn’t beneath them.) It’s believed to have originated from the fact that historically, wealthy people who wore rings didn’t perform manual labor.
17. Empezar la casa por el tejado
Empezar la casa por el tejado literally means “to start the house with the roof,” but signifies having things in the wrong order. The English equivalent would be to put the cart before the horse.
18. Estar como una cabra
If you want to tell someone they are acting loco or behaving more strangely than usual, then estás como una cabra—which literally means “you are like a goat”—will fit the bill.
19. Más lento que el caballo del malo
Más lento que el caballo del malo means “slower than the bad guy’s horse.” In old Westerns, the baddie’s horse would always be slower, allowing the hero to save the day.
20. Entre pitos y flautas
Entre pitos y flautas, literally “between whistles and the flutes,” has nothing to do with music, but describes a situation where time gets away from someone or they forget to do something. Entre pitos y flautas me olvidé de todo might translate to “between one thing and another I forgot about everything.”
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as 20 Spanish Idioms You’ll Love.