Spanish/Idioms

Idioms

English	Spanish	Literal	Key words
Hold your horses	Para el carro	Stop the car/cart
You drive me crazy	Me vuelves loco(a)	you turn me crazy
It is raining cats and dogs	Llueve a cántaros	It is raining pitchers	Llover=to rain
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	Volar=to fly
It is the early bird that gets the worm	A quien madruga, Dios ayuda	God helps he who wakes up early	Madrugar=To wake up early
Brain is better than brawn	Más vale maña que fuerza	Skill is worth more than power	Maña=skill * Fuerza=Power
Rome was not built in a day	No se ganó Zamora en una hora	Zamora was not won in an hour	Zamora=Town in Spain, battle
Out of sight, out of mind	Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente	Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel	Ver=to see*Sentir=to feel
One man's meat is another man's poison	Lo que a uno cura, a otro mata	That what cures one, kills another	Curar=to cure * Matar=to kill
You can't please everyone	Nunca llueve a gusto de todos	It never rains to everyones liking	Gusto=pleasure, liking
Think before you speak	Antes de hablar, pensar	Before speaking, thinking	pensar=to think
The best things in life are free	Lo que no cuesta dinero siempre es bueno	What does not cost money is always good
We all make mistakes	Él que tiene boca se equivoca	He who has a mouth makes mistakes	Equivocarse=To mistake
You reap what you sow	Lo que siembres, cosecharás	What you sow, you will harvest	Sembrar=to sow * Cosechar=to harvest
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	Hierro=iron
You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear	Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda	Even if the monkey dresses in silk, she'll still be a monkey	Mono(a)=monkey
You never know what you have until it's gone	Nadie sabe lo que vale el agua hasta que falta	Nobody knows how much water is worth until it's missing	Faltar=to be of need, in absence. To be missing
A friend in need is a friend indeed	En el peligro se conoce el amigo	In danger the friend is met	Peligro=danger * Conocer=to know, to meet
If you keep your mouth shut, you wont put your foot in it	En bocas cerradas no entran moscas	In closed mouths, flies don't enter	Mosca=fly (insect)
If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly	Lo barato sale caro	What's cheap ends up expensive	Barato=cheap * Caro=expensive
Necessity is the mother of invention	La necesidad agudiza el ingenio	Necessity sharpens ingenuity	agudizar = to sharpen
Let sleeping dogs lie	Al perro que duerme, no lo despiertes	Don't wake the dog that sleeps	despertar=to wake up
You can't teach an old dog new tricks	El loro viejo no aprende a hablar	The old parrot doesn't learn to talk	Loro=parrot
Look before you leap	Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces	Before you marry, look what you do	Casarse=to marry
You're pulling my leg	A otro perro con ese hueso	To another dog with that bone	hueso=bone
Is the coast clear?	¿Hay moros en la costa?	Are there Moors on the coast?
Don't pull my leg	No me tomes el pelo	Don't take (grab) my hair
Birds of a feather flock together	Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres	Tell me with whom you walk and I'll tell you who you are	andar=to walk