The BIG list of Spanish Idioms (100+)
We’ve tweeted and posted a lot of Spanish idioms, but now they’re all here! We’ll keep updating them for you in our BIG list of Spanish idioms and expressions. We’ve included a literal translation when appropriate and additional links will bring you to posts that give examples of these expressions in use.
| Spanish | English (Literal) | English (Translation) | Detail (links) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subirse al carro | To get in the car | To jump on the bandwagon | |
| Esta ronda la pago yo | This round I pay | This round’s on me | |
| Lo importante es participar | — | The important thing is to participate | |
| Dar a alguien su merecido | — | ||
| Ni más ni menos | Neither more, neither less | No more, no less | |
| Unas veces se gana, otras se pierde | Some times one wins, others one looses | You win some you loose some | |
| Luchar por una causa perdida | — | To fight for a lost cause | |
| Tirar la toalla | — | To throw in the towel | |
| No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere oír | There is no worse deafness than he who doesn’t want to hear | No one’s as deaf as those who don’t want to listen | |
| Te invito | I invite you | My treat | |
| Cuando se cierra una puerta, se abre una ventana | When a door closes, a window opens | Where one door closes, another one open | |
| Cada una tiene lo que se merece | Each one has that which their value | People get what they deserve | |
| La curiosidad mató al gato | — | Curiosity killed the cat | |
| Tener enchufe | To have a plug | To be well connected | |
| No muerdas la mano que te da de comer | Don’t bite the hand that gives you to eat | Don’t bite the hand that feeds you | |
| En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo | In the house of a blacksmith, knife of stick | The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot | |
| Más vale lo malo conocido que lo bueno por conocer | Better the known bad than the good to know it | Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t | |
| Cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan | When the cat is not (here), the mice dance | When the cat is away, the mice will play | |
| Ser un bicho raro | To be a strange creature | To be a freak/weirdo | |
| Estar en el quinto pino | To be in the 5th pine (tree) | To be in the boonies | |
| Estar forrado | To be covered | To be loaded (rich) | |
| Estirar la pata | To stretch the leg | To kick the bucket | |
| De tal palo, tal astilla | As such (the) stick, such (the splinter) | Like father, like son / The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree | |
| Matar dos pájaros de un tiro | To kill two birds of one throw/shot | To kill two birds with one stone | |
| Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente | Eyes than don’t see, heart that doesn’t feel | What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over | |
| No es oro todo lo que reluce | — | All that glitters is not gold | |
| Ser un don nadie | To be a Mr. nobody | To be a nobody | |
| Las penas compartidas saben a menos | Shared pains/penalties know less | Two in distress makes sorry less | |
| Salir del armario | — | To come out of the closet (to be gay) | |
| Es la gota que colma el vaso | Is the drop that fills the glass | It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back | |
| Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito | About tastes, there is nothing written | There’s no accounting for tastes | |
| Estar como unas castañuelas | To be like a pair of castanets (spanish hand instrument) | To be happy as a clam | |
| Las apariencias engañan | Appearances deceive | Looks can be deceiving | |
| En la variedad está el gusto | In the variety is the like | Variety is the spice of life | |
| Ser un pez gordo | To be a fat fish | To be a big fish | |
| Más vale maña que fuerza | Better skill than strength | Brain over brawn | |
| Al pan,pan … y al vino, vino | The bread, bread; and the wine, wine | To call a spade a spade | |
| Hoy por tí, Mañana por mí | Today for you, tomorrow for me | You scratch my back I’ll scratch yours | |
| Quien no arriesga, no gana | Who doesn’t risk, doesn’t win | Nothing ventured, nothing gained | |
| Perro ladrador, poco mordedor | Barking dog, little biter | Barking dogs never bite | |
| Más vale prevenir que curar | — | Better to prevent than to cure | |
| Hacer el mono | To do the monkey | To be the clown | |
| No hay mal que por bien no venga | There isn’t bad because good it didn’t come | Every cloud has a silver lining | |
| Todos los caminos llevan a roma | — | All (the) roads lead to Rome | |
| Tener mala leche | To have bad milk | To be a bad apple | food |
| Romper el hielo | — | To break the ice | |
| Dios los cría y ellos se juntan | God raises them and they come together | Birds of a feather flock together | |
| Más vale tarde que nunca | — | Better late than never | |
| Ser la media naranja | To be the half orange | To be the better half | |
| Meter la pata | To put the foot (in it) | Screw up | |
| Ser un chaquetero | To be a turncoat | To be a flip-flopper | |
| A buen entendedor pocas palabras bastan | To (be a) good listener few words are sufficient | A word to the wise (is enough) | |
| Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla | (He) Who went to Sevilla, lost his seat | You snooze, you loose | |
| Pillarse un pedo | To pinch a fart | To get drunk | |
| Estar como una cabra | To be like a goat | To be crazy | |
| Ser pan comido | To be eaten bread | Easy as pie | food |
| Por si las moscas | For if the flies | Just in case | |
| Hacer la pelota | To do the ball | To suck up | |
| Arrimar el hombro | Lend/Pull up a shoulder | Give a hand | |
| Ser un cero a la izquierda | To be a zero on the left | To be worthless | numbers |
| Costar un ojo de la cara | To cost and eye from the face | To cost an arm and a leg | numbers |
| Cada dos por tres | Every two times three | To happen frequently | numbers |
| Buscarle tres pies al gato | To look for three feet on the cat | To make something more complicated than necessary | numbers |
| Ser cuatro gatos | To be four cats | To be very few people | numbers |
| Estar en el quinto pino | To be in the fifth pine | To be in the boonies | numbers |
| Entrar los siete males | To enter the seven evils | To be in hell | numbers |
| Más chulo que un ocho | More cool than an eight | To be too cool | numbers |
| Meterse en camisas de once varas | To get into a shirt of 11 sticks (pieces of cloth) | To make a mountain out of a mole hill | numbers |
| Seguir en sus trece | To follow your thirteen | To be headstrong or stubborn | numbers |
| Ser un chorizo | To be a chorizo (sausage) | To be a thief | food |
| Ser el año de la pera | To be the year of the pear | To be out of fashion | food |
| Ser carne de cañón | To be meat from the cannon | To be fish bate/thrown under the bus | food |
| Estar mala uva | To be bad grapes | To be grumpy, in a bad mood | food |
| Estar como un fideo | To be like a noodle | To be thin as a rail | food |
| Estar como una sopa | To be like soup | To be soaked to the bone | food |
| Importar un pimiento | To matter a pepper | Doesn’t matter / don’t give a crap | food |
| ¡Ostras! | Oysters! | Holy moley! | food |
| Estar hasta las narices | To be up to the noses | To be fed up | body |
| Hacerse la boca agua | To make ones mouth water | body | |
| Estar con el agua al cuello | To be with water to the neck | To be up to your neck / underwater | body |
| Echar una mano a alguien | To throw a hand to someone | To lend a hand | body |
| Meterse hasta la cabeza en algo | To be in up to ones head in something | To be fully involved/completely immersed | body |
| No dar pie con bola | To not give a foot with a ball/To not be on the ball | Can’t do anything right | body |
| Poner el mal tiempo, buena cara | To put to bad weather, a good face | To put on a happy face / look at the bright side | body |
| Hablar por los codos | To talk through your elbows | To talk a lot | body |
| Levantarse con mal pie | To wake up with the wrong foot | To wake up on the wrong side of the bed | body |
| No pegar ojo | To not paste an eye | To not sleep a wink | body |
| Estar loco con contento | To be crazy with happiness | To be over the moon | |
| Perro flaco, todo son pulgas | Skinny dog, covered in fleas | It never rains but it pours/when it rains, it pours | |
| Fue bonito mientras duró | It was good while it lasted | ||
| Cada loco con su tema | Each crazy with his theme | To each his own | |
| Quien ríe el último, ríe mejor | He who laughs last, laughs best | ||
| Esto es cosa de dos | This is a thing of two | It takes two to tango | |
| Ser un caracol | To be a snail | To be very slow | |
| Esto es cosa de dos | This is a thing of two | It takes two to tango | |
| Donde comen dos, comen tres | Where two eat, three eat | There’s always room for one more | |
| No por mucho madrugar, amanece más temprano | Not by getting up very early, it dawns earlier | Getting up early doesn’t make the sun rise sooner | |
| ¡De ninguna manera! | Of no way! | No way! | |
| Irse por las ramas | To go by the bushes | To beat around the bush | |
| Así es la vida | Thus is life | That’s life | |
| No buscarle pulgas al perro | Don’t look for flees on the dog | Let sleeping dogs lie | |
| Hacer borrón y cuenta nueva | Do the big erase and new account | Wipe the slate clean | |
| Ahogar las penas | To drown the miseries | To drown ones sorrows | |
| Todo a su debido tiempo | All in its due time | All in good time | |
| Estar frito | To be fried | To be sleeping | |
| Ligarse a alguien | To link to someone | To hook up/ pick up someone | |
| Cuenta conmigo | Count with me | Count me in | |
| Dar en el clavo | To give (hit) in the nail | Hit the nail on the head | |
| Ya estamos otra vez | already we are again | Here we go again | |
| Hacer puente | Do the bridge | Take a long holiday weekend | |
| Dar alguien con la puerta en las narices | To give someone with the door in the noses | To slam the door in someone’s face | |
| Mala hierba nunca muere | Bad grass never dies | The bad ones never die |
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Showing 5 comments
I am looking for the English translation for “ lo poquito encanta y lo mucho enfada”.
I’d say “less is more” or “too much of a good thing”
Como dirían:
No tenemos arreglo
The very little enchanted (happy or pleased here) and the very angry.
I Guess It depends on the context but looks just like somebody is angry, not happy
Sorry, I read It wrong.
It litteraly means “the little enchantes (pleases, likes very much) and the much angers”
It just means a little is better than too much