Idioms -

Idioms134 English idioms & their Spanish twins, by theme — slide/arrows to scroll, tap English to hear

Idiom & Spanish twin	Meaning	Example
Health & Feelings
under the weatherestar indispuesto/a	feeling sick	I am under the weather today.
fit as a fiddleestar como una rosa	in great health	Grandpa is fit as a fiddle.
kick the bucketestirar la pata	to die	The old car finally kicked the bucket.
on cloud nineestar en la gloria	very happy	She was on cloud nine after the news.
green with envyestar verde de envidia	very jealous	He was green with envy.
sick as a dogestar hecho polvo	very ill	I was sick as a dog all week.
keep your chin up¡ánimo!	stay positive	Keep your chin up, it will get better.
a pain in the neckun dolor de cabeza	an annoyance	This form is a pain in the neck.
in hot waterestar en problemas	in trouble	He is in hot water with the boss.
lose your temperperder los estribos	get angry	Do not lose your temper.
get cold feetecharse atrás	become nervous	He got cold feet before the wedding.
butterflies in your stomachtener mariposas en el estómago	nervous excitement	I had butterflies in my stomach.
down in the dumpsestar de bajón	feeling low	He has been down in the dumps lately.
head over heelsestar perdidamente enamorado	deeply in love	She is head over heels for him.
bite your tonguemorderse la lengua	stay silent	I had to bite my tongue.
Work & Effort
burn the midnight oilquemarse las pestañas	work late into the night	I burned the midnight oil to finish.
pull stringsmover hilos	use influence	He pulled strings to get the job.
by the bookhacerlo al pie de la letra	follow the rules exactly	She does everything by the book.
break a sweatsudar la camiseta	make an effort	The team really broke a sweat.
go the extra milehacer un esfuerzo extra	make extra effort	She always goes the extra mile.
call it a daydar por terminado el día	stop working	Let us call it a day.
learn the ropesaprender los trucos	learn how it is done	It takes time to learn the ropes.
in the same boatestar en el mismo barco	in the same situation	We are all in the same boat.
put your nose to the grindstonearrimar el hombro	work hard	Time to put your nose to the grindstone.
throw in the toweltirar la toalla	give up	Do not throw in the towel.
the ball is in your courtla pelota está en tu tejado	your decision now	The ball is in your court now.
get the ball rollingponer en marcha	start something	Let us get the ball rolling.
burn outquemarse	exhaust yourself	He burned out from overwork.
Money & Value
cost an arm and a legcostar un ojo de la cara	very expensive	That car cost an arm and a leg.
nest eggcolchón de ahorros	savings	They built a nice nest egg.
tighten the beltapretarse el cinturón	spend less	We had to tighten our belts.
money does not grow on treesel dinero no cae del cielo	money is limited	Money does not grow on trees.
break the bankromper la alcancía	cost too much	A coffee will not break the bank.
a penny for your thoughts¿en qué piensas?	what are you thinking	You are quiet — a penny for your thoughts?
break evensalir a mano	neither gain nor lose	The shop just broke even.
cash cowuna mina de oro	a money-maker	That product is a cash cow.
living hand to mouthvivir al día	barely getting by	They were living hand to mouth.
pay through the nosepagar un dineral	pay too much	We paid through the nose for it.
foot the billcorrer con los gastos	pay for it	She footed the bill for dinner.
a rip-offun timo	overpriced	That price is a rip-off.
a cheapskateun tacaño	a stingy person	Do not be a cheapskate.
Relationships & Social
break the iceromper el hielo	start a conversation	A joke can break the ice.
tie the knotcasarse	get married	They tied the knot last year.
spill the beanssoltar la sopa	reveal a secret	Do not spill the beans!
hit it offcaer bien de inmediato	get along instantly	We hit it off right away.
fair-weather friendamigo de conveniencia	friend only in good times	He is just a fair-weather friend.
sweep under the rugesconder bajo la alfombra	hide a problem	They swept it under the rug.
put your foot in your mouthmeter la pata	say something embarrassing	I put my foot in my mouth.
birds of a featherDios los cría y ellos se juntan	similar people group together	Birds of a feather flock together.
give the cold shoulderdar la espalda	ignore someone	She gave me the cold shoulder.
pull someone’s legtomar el pelo	to joke or tease	I am just pulling your leg.
see eye to eyeestar de acuerdo	agree	We do not see eye to eye.
have a soft spot fortener debilidad por	be fond of	I have a soft spot for dogs.
kiss and make uphacer las paces	reconcile	They kissed and made up.
the apple of my eyela niña de mis ojos	someone dear to me	She is the apple of my eye.
Surprise & Luck
out of the bluede la nada	unexpectedly	She called out of the blue.
once in a blue moonde Pascuas a Ramos	very rarely	He visits once in a blue moon.
bite the bullettragar sapos	face something hard	I bit the bullet and asked.
hit the jackpotsacarse la lotería	have great luck	We hit the jackpot with this deal.
cross your fingerscruzar los dedos	hope for luck	Cross your fingers for me.
luck of the drawcuestión de suerte	pure chance	It is just the luck of the draw.
a blessing in disguiseno hay mal que por bien no venga	good hidden in the bad	Losing it was a blessing in disguise.
in seventh heavenestar en el séptimo cielo	extremely happy	She was in seventh heaven.
tempt fatetentar a la suerte	take a needless risk	Do not tempt fate.
roll the dicejugárselo todo a una carta	take a big risk	We rolled the dice on the plan.
speak of the devilhablando del rey de Roma	the person appears	Speak of the devil, here she is!
when pigs flycuando las ranas críen pelo	never	He will do it when pigs fly.
against all oddscontra todo pronóstico	despite the difficulties	They won against all odds.
Weather & Nature
raining cats and dogsllover a cántaros	raining hard	It is raining cats and dogs.
calm before the stormla calma antes de la tormenta	quiet before trouble	This is the calm before the storm.
every cloud has a silver liningno hay mal que por bien no venga	good hidden in the bad	Every cloud has a silver lining.
storm in a teacupuna tormenta en un vaso de agua	a fuss over nothing	It is just a storm in a teacup.
under the sunde todo habido y por haber	everything that exists	We talked about everything under the sun.
a ray of sunshineun rayo de sol	a cheerful person	She is a ray of sunshine.
snowed underestar hasta el cuello	overwhelmed with work	I am snowed under at work.
weather the stormcapear el temporal	survive hard times	We weathered the storm together.
a storm is brewingse avecina una tormenta	trouble is coming	A storm is brewing at the office.
come rain or shinepase lo que pase	no matter what	I will be there, come rain or shine.
the tip of the icebergla punta del iceberg	a small visible part	That is just the tip of the iceberg.
go with the flowdejarse llevar	be flexible	Just go with the flow.
Patience & Time
hold your horsesno corras tanto	wait / slow down	Hold your horses, we have time.
kill timematar el tiempo	pass time	We killed time at the mall.
in the nick of timejusto a tiempo	just in time	He arrived in the nick of time.
Rome was not built in a dayRoma no se hizo en un día	big things take time	Be patient, Rome was not built in a day.
better late than nevermás vale tarde que nunca	late beats never	You came! Better late than never.
time fliesel tiempo vuela	time passes fast	Time flies when you are having fun.
beat around the bushandarse por las ramas	avoid the point	Stop beating around the bush.
call the shotsllevar la voz cantante	be in charge	She calls the shots here.
at the eleventh houra última hora	at the last minute	He paid at the eleventh hour.
in the long runa la larga	over time	It is cheaper in the long run.
around the clocklas veinticuatro horas	all day and night	They worked around the clock.
the early bird catches the worma quien madruga, Dios le ayuda	reward for starting early	The early bird catches the worm.
burn the candle at both endsno parar ni de día ni de noche	overwork yourself	You are burning the candle at both ends.
Daily Life
a piece of cakepan comido	very easy	The exam was a piece of cake.
hit the sackirse a la cama	go to bed	I am going to hit the sack.
break a legbuena suerte	good luck	Break a leg tonight!
let the cat out of the bagdescubrir el pastel	reveal a secret	She let the cat out of the bag.
barking up the wrong treeir por lana y salir trasquilado	on the wrong track	You are barking up the wrong tree.
hit the roadponerse en camino	leave / set off	It is late, let us hit the road.
keep an eye onno perder de vista	watch carefully	Keep an eye on the kids.
spill the teacontar el chisme	share the gossip	Come on, spill the tea!
sleep on itconsultarlo con la almohada	decide later	Let me sleep on it.
be all earsser todo oídos	listening closely	Tell me, I am all ears.
a dime a dozenhaber a montones	very common	Those are a dime a dozen.
catch some Z’sechar una cabezada	sleep	I need to catch some Z’s.
under the tablebajo cuerda	secretly / off the books	They paid him under the table.
Challenges & Problems
back to square onevolver a empezar	start over	The plan failed; back to square one.
between a rock and a hard placeentre la espada y la pared	stuck between bad options	I am between a rock and a hard place.
the last strawla gota que colmó el vaso	the final problem	That was the last straw.
add fuel to the fireechar leña al fuego	make it worse	Do not add fuel to the fire.
at wit’s endestar al límite	out of ideas	I am at my wit’s end.
jump the gunadelantarse	act too soon	Do not jump the gun.
cut cornershacer las cosas a medias	do it carelessly to save time	They cut corners on the build.
face the musicafrontar las consecuencias	face the consequences	It is time to face the music.
rock the boatagitar las aguas	cause trouble	Do not rock the boat.
throw caution to the windlanzarse a la piscina	take a big risk	She threw caution to the wind.
the elephant in the roomel elefante en la habitación	an obvious ignored problem	Let us address the elephant in the room.
open a can of wormsabrir la caja de Pandora	create complications	That opens a can of worms.
a wild goose chaseuna búsqueda inútil	a pointless pursuit	It was a wild goose chase.
Success & Failure
hit the nail on the headdar en el clavo	be exactly right	You hit the nail on the head.
miss the boatperder el tren	miss a chance	I missed the boat on that deal.
jump on the bandwagonsubirse al carro	join a trend	Everyone jumped on the bandwagon.
break new groundabrir camino	do something innovative	Their research broke new ground.
fall flatquedar en agua de borrajas	come to nothing	The joke fell flat.
hit the big timellegar a la cima	become very successful	The band hit the big time.
bite off more than you can chewquien mucho abarca, poco aprieta	take on too much	Do not bite off more than you can chew.
make ends meetllegar a fin de mes	manage financially	It is hard to make ends meet.
strike while the iron is hotaprovechar la ocasión	act at the right moment	Strike while the iron is hot.
turn over a new leafhacer borrón y cuenta nueva	make a fresh start	He turned over a new leaf.
come out on topsalir ganando	win in the end	She came out on top.
raise the barsubir el listón	set a higher standard	They raised the bar.
steal the showacaparar la atención	get all the attention	The kids stole the show.
the icing on the cakela guinda del pastel	a nice bonus	That was the icing on the cake.
go down in flamesfracasar rotundamente	fail spectacularly	The project went down in flames.