Spanish/Idioms

Idioms

English	Spanish	Literal
The straw that broke the camel's back	La gota que derramó el vaso	The drop that caused the glass to spill over
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree	De tal palo tal astilla	A splinter is like the wood it came from
A chip off the old block	De tal palo tal astilla	A chip is like the stick it came from
Making a mountain out of a molehill	Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena	Make a mountain out of a grain of sand
Clothes don't make the man	El habito no hace al monje	The habit doesn't make the monk
To cost an arm and a leg	Costar un ojo de la cara	To cost one eye of your face
Call a spade a spade	Llamar al pan pan y al vino vino	Call bread bread and wine wine
Something smells fishy	Huele a gato encerrado	It smells like a caged cat
To be on the fence	Nadar entre dos aguas	Swim between two bodies of water
To be in a jam	Estar metido en un lío	To be in a jam
In a nutshell	En pocas palabras	In a few words
It's raining cats and dogs	Llueve a cántaros	It is raining pitchers
To be in the driver's seat	Llevar las riendas	Holding the reins
Out of the horse's mouth	De muy buena fuente	From a very good source
Day in, day out	De sol a sol	From sun to sun
To butter up	Estar de barbero	To be a bootlicker
Stick to one's guns	No dar el brazo a torcer	Not allow to have your arm twisted
To be hard pressed	Estar en un aprieto	To be in a predicament
If I only knew!	¡Quién lo supiera!	Who would know it!
To hit the road	Largarse	Leave or get lost
Learn the ropes	Aprender el negocio	To learn the business
Besides the point	No viene al caso	It doesn't come (touch) the case
As if there were no tomorrow	Como si se fuera a acabar el mundo	As if the world were coming to an end
Alive and Kicking	Vivo y Coleando	Alive and wagging
Cool as a cucumber	Fresco como una lechuga	Fresh as a lettuce
Fighting like cats and dogs	Llevarse como perro y gato	Fighting like a dog and a cat
My point is	A lo que me refiero	What I'm referring to
Better late than never	Más vale tarde que nunca	Now is better than never
Stop the car	Para el coche	Stop the car/cart
To each his own	Cada loco con su tema	Every lunatic has his own subject (theme)
You make me crazy	Me vuelves loco(a)	You make me crazy
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush	Más vale un pájaro en mano que cien volando	One bird in hand is worth more than a hundred flying
A wild goose chase	Buscando la cuadratura de un circulo	Searching the square of a circle
To know something like the back of one's hand	Conocer algo como la palma de la mano	To know something like the palm of the hand
It is the early bird that gets the worm	A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda	God helps he who wakes up early
Deliver the goods	Cumplir con lo prometido	Fulfill a promise
Brain is better than brawn	Más vale maña que fuerza	Skill is worth more than power
It goes without saying	Es cosa sabida	It's a known thing
To spill the beans	Soltar la sopa	Spill the soup
Rome was not built in a day	No se ganó Zamora en una hora	Zamora was not won in an hour
Out of sight, out of mind	Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente	Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel
To throw in the towel	Darse por vencido	To consider oneself defeated
The royal treatment	Trato a cuerpo de rey	Fit for the body of a king
One man's meat is another man's poison	Lo que a uno cura, a otro mata	That that cures one, kills another
To go down the drain	Irse por un tubo	Go by a pipe
Fat chance!	Ni lo sueñes	Don't even dream about it
It is beyond me	No entiendo ni jota	I don't understand even the (letter) j
You can't please everyone	Nunca llueve a gusto de todos	It never rains to everyone's liking
Think before you speak	Antes de hablar, pensar	Before speaking, think
Hold your horses!	Calma, no hay prisa!	Calm down, there is no rush
To be daydreaming	Andar en la luna	To walk on the moon
The best things in life are free	Lo que no cuesta dinero siempre es bueno	That which does not cost money is always good
It doesn't ring a bell	No me suena	It doesn't ring to me
It's not a laughing matter	No es cosa de juego	It's not a matter of play
We all make mistakes	El que tiene boca se equivoca	The one who has a mouth makes mistakes
To be mad as a hatter	Estar loco de remate	To be crazy at the top
You reap what you sow	Se cosecha lo que se siembra	What one sows, one harvests
To be caught red-handed	Con las manos en la masa	With the hands in the dough
They that live by the sword shall die by the sword	Quien a hierro mata, a hierro muere	He who kills by iron, dies by iron
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear	Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda	Even if the monkey dresses in silk, she is still be a monkey
Give the lowdown	Poner al corriente	Bring up to speed
At the drop of a hat	Al instante	Instantly
You never know what you have until it's gone	Nadie sabe lo que vale el agua hasta que falta	Nobody knows how valuable water is until it's missing
A friend in need is a friend indeed	En el peligro se conoce el amigo	In danger the friend is known
To be in seventh heaven	Estar en la gloria	To be in the glory
If you keep your mouth shut, you won't put your foot in it	En bocas cerradas no entran moscas	In closed mouths flies don't enter
If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly	Lo barato sale caro	What's cheap ends up expensive
Cross the t's and dot the i's	Sin faltar una coma	Without missing one comma
For the hell of it	Por puro gusto	For pure pleasure (whim)
Necessity is the mother of invention	La necesidad agudiza el ingenio	Necessity sharpens ingenuity
Water under the bridge	Es agua pasada	It's water that passed
To look the other way	Hacerse la vista gorda	To make oneself a fat sight
Let sleeping dogs lie	Al perro que duerme, no lo despiertes	Don't wake the dog that sleeps
You can't teach an old dog new tricks	El loro viejo no aprende a hablar	The old parrot doesn't learn to talk
Look before you leap	Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces	Before you marry, look what you do
Uncharted waters	Abrir brecha	To open (break) a gap
It serves him right	Se lo merece	She (or he or it) deserves it
To be on cloud nine	Andar en las nubes	Walk in the clouds
You're pulling my leg	A otro perro con ese hueso	To another dog with that bone
Flesh and blood	De carne y hueso	Of flesh and bone
Is the coast clear?	¿Hay moros en la costa?	Are there Moors (Arabs) on the coast?
To ruffle someone's feathers	Fastidiar a alguien	To annoy someone
To pull someone's leg	Tomar el pelo a alguien	To pull someone's hair
Pedal to the metal	A la carrera	At a race pace
To walk on air	Rebozar de felicidad	To be enveloped by happiness
Birds of a feather flock together	Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres	Tell me with whom you walk and I'll tell you who you are
Go to pieces	Desmoronarse	To crumble apart
Hit it off	Hacer migas	Make breadcrumbs
To have sticky fingers	Tener inclinación a robar	To have inclination to steal
To let off steam	Desahogarse	To vent
It is nothing to brag about	No es nada de otro mundo	It is nothing of another world
All is quiet on the Potomac	La paz reina en Varsovia	Peace reigns in Warsaw
Talking a mile a minute	Hablar a mil por hora	To speak a thousand (words) an hour
To sleep on it	Consultar la almohada	To consult the pillow
Not beat around the bush	Ir al grano	To go to the grain
To be fit as a fiddle	Estar más sano que una pera	To be healthier than a pear