Doctora Hickman's Spanish Class
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KEY: SP = Spanish Idiom, LT = Literal Translation, ENG = equivalent English Idiom |
SP: A buen hambre no hay pan duro.
LT: For good hunger there is no hard bread.
ENG: Anything tastes good when you're hungry.
SP: A donde fueres haz lo que vieres.
LT: Wherever you go, do what you see.
ENG: When in Rome do as the Romans do.
SP: A otro perro con ese hueso.
LT: To another dog with that bone.
ENG: You're pulling my leg.
SP: Ahora que hay modo.
LT: Now that there is a way or mood.
ENG: Make hay while the sun shines.
SP: Al canto del petiguere
LT: To the song of the petiguere
ENG: At daybreak
SP: Al hierro caliente batir de repente.
LT: Beat the hot iron at once.
ENG: Strike while the iron's hot.
SP: Antes que te cases mira lo que haces.
LT: Before you marry look what you do.
ENG: Look before you leap.
SP: Beben agua en el mismo jarrito.
LT: They drink water from the same little jug.
ENG: They're as thick as thieves.
SP: Cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas.
LT: Each has his way to kill fleas.
ENG: There's more than one way to skin a cat.
SP: Cada perico a su estaca, cada changa a su mecate.
LT: Each parrot on its perch, each monkey on its rope.
ENG: To each his own.
SP: Caras vemos, corazones no sabemos.
LT: Faces we see, hearts we don't know.
ENG: You can't judge a book by its cover.
SP: Claro como el agua de Xochimilco
LT: Clear as the water of Xochimilco
ENG: Clear as mud.
SP: Comer frijoles y repetir pollo
LT: To eat beans and belch chicken
ENG: His bark is mightier than his bite.
SP: Como el burro que tocó la flauta
LT: Like the burro that played the flute
ENG: By a stroke of luck
SP: Como quitarle un pelo a un gato
LT: Like the shedding of the hair of a cat
ENG: Like a drop in the bucket
SP: Con estos bueyes hay que arar.
LT: With these burros one must plough.
ENG: One must make do with what one has.
SP: Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente.
LT: The shrimp that falls asleep, the current carries it away.
ENG: You snooze, you lose.
SP: De tal palo, tal astilla.
LT: From such a log such chips.
ENG: A chip off the old block
SP: Dar la suave a uno
LT: To give the smooth to someone
ENG: To polish the apple
SP: Darle un beso a la botella.
LT: To give the bottle a kiss
ENG: To take a swig
SP: De la subida más alta es la caída más lastimosa.
LT: Of the highest rise, the shortest fall.
ENG: The bigger they are the harder they fall.
SP: Desnudar un santo para vestir otro
LT: To stip on saint bare to clothe another
ENG: To rob Peter to pay Paul
SP: Después de atole
LT: After the atole (corn meal drink)
ENG: Hindsight is better that foresight.
SP: El agua es para los bueyes, el vino para los hombres.
LT: Water is for oxen, wine is for men.
ENG: Let the fish drink water.
SP: El campo fértil no descansado, tórnase estéril.
LT: The unrested fertile field turns sterile.
ENG: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
SP: El perico dice lo que sabe, pero no sabe lo que dice.
LT: The parrot says what he knows , but does'nt know what he says.
ENG: To learn something parrot fashion.
SP: En boca cerrado no entran moscas.
LT: A closed mouth flies do not enter.
ENG: Silence is Golden.
SP: En caliente y de repente
LT: In heat and suddenly
ENG: Strike while the iron's hot.
SP: En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo.
LT: In the blacksmith's house, a wooden knife.
ENG: In the blacksmith's house, a wooden knife.
SP: En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo.
LT: In the blacksmith's house, a wooden knife.
ENG: The blacksmith's mare and the shoemaker's children are the worst shod.
SP: En menos que canta un gallo
LT: In less time than the rooster crows
ENG: In the shake of a lamb's tail
SP: Entrada de caballo y salida de burro
LT: Enter on horseback, exit on a burro
ENG: To go off with a bang and out like a light
SP: Es como llevar piedras al cerro.
LT: It's like carrying coles to the hill.
ENG: Like carrying coals to Newcastle
SP: Eso es harina de otro costal.
LT: That's flour from another sack.
ENG: That's a different story.
SP: Estar como perro en barrio ajeno
LT: To be like a dog in a neighbor's yard
ENG: To feel like a fish out of water
SP: El hijo de la gato, ratones mata.
LT: The son of a cat kills mice.
ENG: Like father like son.
SP: Está pensando en las musarañas.
LT: He or she is thinking about the creepy-crawlies.
ENG: He or she is daydreaming.
SP: Falta lo mero bueno.
LT: The true good is lacking.
ENG: We are not out of the woods yet.
SP: Gato escaldado del agua fria huye.
LT: The scalded cat flees cold water.
ENG: Once bitten twice shy
SP: Hacer lo que otro no puede hacer por uno
LT: To do what no other can do for one
ENG: To go powder one's nose
SP: Haz bien y no mires a quien.
LT: Do right and do not look at others.
ENG: Mind your own business.
SP: La carne de burro no es transparente.
LT: The flesh of the burro is not transparent.
ENG: I can't see through you.
SP: Le patina el coco.
LT: His coconut (head) slips.
ENG: He has a screw loose.
SP: Llevar de rama en rama como Tarzan lleva a Juana.
LT: To carry of branch in branch as Tarzan carries to Juana.
ENG: To like someone.
SP: Más loco que una cabra
LT: Crazier than a goat
ENG: As mad as a hatter
SP: Más vale llegar a tiempo que en convidado
LT: Better to arrive on time than to be invited
ENG: First come, first served
SP: Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.
LT: A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.
ENG: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
SP: Meter la cuchara
LT: To put the spoon in
ENG: To stick one's oar in
SP: Meterse entre las patas de los caballos
LT: To put oneself amidst the horses feet
ENG: To get out of one's depth
SP: Mientras que en mi casa estoy, rey soy.
LT: While in my house, I am king.
ENG: A man's house is his castle.
SP: No hay nada tan atrevido como le ignorancia.
LT: There is nothing more bold than ignorance.
ENG: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
SP: Otro gallo nos cantará.
LT: Another (different) rooster will sing for us.
ENG: That's a horse of a different color.
SP: Poner las polainas
LT: To put on the legginses.
ENG: To flee, run away, escape
SP: Por un pelito de rana
LT: By a little hair of the frog
ENG: It was a close shave.
SP: Prietitos del mismo arroz.
LT: The little black one's of the same rice.
ENG: It's all in a day's work.
SP: Quedarse como el que chiflóen la loma
LT: To remain like the one that whistled on the hill.
ENG: To be left holding the bag.
SP: Quedarse con un pie en el estribo
LT: To remain with a foot in the stirup
ENG: To be left standing
SP: Quererse como dos chanchos
LT: To be wanted as two pigs
ENG: To love each other very much
SP: Saberlo de buena fuente
LT: To know it from a good source
ENG: To hear it straight from the horse's mouth
SP: Sacarse el gordo
LT: To draw the fat one
ENG: To hit the jackpot
SP: Ser más listo que un coyote
LT: To be more ready (alert) than a coyote
ENG: As sharp as a tack
SP: Ser un juey dormido
LT: To be a juey asleep.
ENG: To be a hypocrite
SP: Si esta víbora te pica, no hay remedio en la botica.
LT: If this snake bites you, there's no remedy in the pharmacy.
ENG: You're playing with fire.
SP: Si mi tia tuviera ruedas, sería una bicicleta.
LT: If my aunt had wheels she would be a bicycle.
ENG: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
SP: Tener más lana que un borrego
LT: To have more wool than a lamb
ENG: To have money to burn
SP: Vivito y coleando
LT: Alive and wagging tail
ENG: Alive and kicking
SP: Yo pregunto si la manteca es unto.
LT: I asked if the butter is grease.
ENG: I didn't beat around the bush.
SP: Yo te conozco bacalao, aunque vengas disfrazado.
LT: I know you codfish, even though you wear a disguise.
ENG: I know your game.
SP: Yo tengo una tía que toca la guitarra.
LT: I have an aunt who plays the guitar.
ENG: What does that have to do with the price of eggs in China?