Language can be fun.
Here are 10 English expressions that make no sense translated word for word.
It’s brass monkeys outside. - Es monos latón por afuera.
Go doolally.-- ??
Sweet Fanny Adams. -- Dulce Fanny Adams
I haven’t seen you in donkey’s years. -- No te he visto en años de burro.
Bob’s your uncle. - Bob es tu tío - Done by Bosqueroble
Fly by the seat of your pants. -- Volar por el asiento de tus pantalones. Done by davidneill
Skeleton in the cupboard. -- Esqueleto en el armario. - Done by davidneill
Bite the bullet. -- Mordedura la bala. done by Nickelbackfan1
Mad as a hatter. --- Loco como un sombrerero. done by bosquederoble
Eat humble pie. --- Comer pastel de humildad. done by gringojrf
Help those members learning English and have fun yourself.
The idea is to choose one and explain it to learners of English in Spanish and English.
Example:
“Your flies are open.”--- “Tus moscas están abiertas.”
Real meaning – The zip on your trousers is undone. = La farmacia esta abierta.
This would be understood by almost all English speakers.
If you have sweet Fanny Adams to do and it is brass monkeys outside you might go doolally. = Cabin fever.
16 Answers
shoot the breeze / disparar la brisa
Real meaning--Significado verdadero
It means to spend time talking about unimportant topics.
Significa pasar tiempo hablando temas que no son importantes.
go cold turkey / ir pavo fro
Real meaning - Significado verdadero.
It means to suddenly stop addictive behavior such as smoking or drinking alcohol.
Significa quitar de repente el comportamiento adictivo como fumar o beber alcohol.
Bite the bullet - Mordedura la bala.
Real meaning - Significado verdadero.
It means to decide to do something unpleasant or difficult that you have been putting off or being hesitant about - Es decidir hacer algo desagradable o difícil que le pone o ser vacilante sobre
Skeleton in the cupboard - Esqueleto en el armario.
Real meaning - Significado verdadero.
Significa que la persona tiene algo que ocultar en su historia pasada./ It means that the person has something to hide in their past history.
- Mad as a hatter. --- Loco como un sombrerero.
Significa que alguien está muy loco. It means that someone is quite crazy.
Parece que en el pasado se usó el mercurio, el cual es una neurotoxina, en la producción del fieltro, y por eso los trabajadores que pasaron mucho tiempo en las fábricas solían contraer una forma de demencia.
It seems that in the past mercury, which is a neurotoxin, was used in the production of felt, and because of this the workers that spent much time in the factories tended to come down with a form of dementia.
Bob’s your uncle. Robert is the husband of your aunt. Robert is your mother’s brother. Whatever.
Bob es tu tío. Robert es el marido de tu tía. Robert es el hermano de tu madre. Como sea.
Quizás significa que es como si Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil fuera tu tío, y por eso todo te iría bien con lo más mínimo de esfuerzo.
Maybe it means that it is as if Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil were you uncle, so everything would turn out well for you with minimal effort.
It is new to me, but from what I understand, it is used at the end of a set of simple instructions to say that if you just do that, you will get your desired result, very easily. It isn't anything hard to do.
Es Nuevo para mí, pero de lo que yo sepa, se usa en el final de un conjunto de instrucciones simples para decir que si las haces, realizarás muy fácilmente tu meta. No es algo complejo para hacer.
Don't put off till tomorrow, what you can do today.--- No dejes para mañana, lo que puede hacer hoy en día.
Significado - Verdadero
You may not get a chance to do tomorrow, what should be done today. --- No puedes tener la oportunidad de hacer mañana lo que debe hacerse hoy.
He thinks he's all that.
El se cree todo eso.
Meaning:
He thinks he's the best in the world.
Es el mejor del mundo.
To turn the tables. = Para vuelta las mesas.
Significado verdadero
Para tomar la ventaja de distancia de un competidor. = To take the advantage away from a competitor.
Fly by the seat of your pants. -- Volar por el asiento de tus pantalones.
Real meaning - Significado verdadero
To attempt to do something without preparation. -- Para intentar hacer algo sin preparación.
barking up the wrong tree / ladrando al árbol incorrecto
Real meaning - Significado verdadero
proceeding under a mistaken belief or false assumption / proceder de acuerdo con una creencia errónea o falsa suposición
Ian...half of them I have never heard of. Most be that other English that you speak over there.
1., 2., 3., and 4. are not common in US English, let alone in Spanish. And in 7. we say closet not cupboard.
'10. Eat humble pie. --- Comer pastel de humildad. Very close and understandable. Comer empanada humilde.
She's all sixes and sevens.
Ella es todo manga por hombro.
From our Prase book.
It is possible that an ancient dispute between the Merchant Taylors and Skinners livery companies may have helped to popularise the phrase.1 The two trade associations, founded in the same year, argued over sixth place in the order of precedence. In 1484, after more than a century of bickering, the Lord Mayor of London Sir Robert Billesden decided that at the feast of Corpus Christi, the companies would swap between sixth and seventh place and feast in each other's halls. Nowadays, they alternate in precedence on an annual basis
*The phrase took on additional meaning during the early 1960s, when debate over Britain's position in Europe under Harold Macmillan centred on membership of the EEC 'Six' or the EFTA 'Seven' smaller independent states.
The phrase appears in a few songs, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from the musical Evita, "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" from Tears for Fears, and "Playing With Fire" by Stereo MCs.
The phrase is also used in the 1978 movie The Wiz, when Miss One gives Dorothy the silver slippers and comments, "Oh, don't be all sixes and sevens, Honey" to Dorothy as Dorothy is in a state of confusion after killing the Wicked Witch of the East.It is also found in the 1993 film The Remains of the Day.
Not enough room to swing the cat .
No hay suficiente espacio para hacerla girar el gato.
Attested 1665, by which point already in common use; perhaps of naval slang origin.
While it is frequently stated that the phrase is derived from cat-o’-nine-tails ?(“type of whip”),1 this latter term is only attested from 1695, and hence this idiom presumably derived from literally swinging a cat around, as by the tail.
Down the gurgle ; Bajar por el agujero del tapón.
Cuando algo ha fallado , arruinado o destruido.
When something has failed , is ruined or lost.
Un esfuerzo inútil, porque la empresa fracasó. y el dinero se pierde.
A wasted effort, because the company failed. and money is lost.
It is down the gurgler.
