A nice example of an expression which can’t be translated literally. The verb “arrimar” means “to move/bring … closer” in, for example, a sentence like this:

El arrimó el sillón a la pared = He pushed/moved the armchair up against the wall

“hombro” means “shoulder” so the expression “arrimar el hombro” should mean “move a shoulder”, but no, it’s real translation is “to lend a hand” or just “help”.

I’ve chosen this particular expression because here in Spain we’ve been forced to hear the expression several times a week for the past six years since the socialist government won the elections. They have an insidious strategy: they decide to introduce a new law or do away with an old one and when the opposition party protests, they say “Estamos intentando salvar/modernizar/cambiar el país y la oposición se niega a arrimar el hombro” meaning “We’re trying to save/modernize/change the country and the opposition party refuses to lend a hand”. They say this as if the opposition were morally obliged to support anything they propose instead of doing what the opposition is supposed to do: oppose.

Sorry to go off on a small tangent, but the expression becomes quite tiresome when used this way. Hopefully you will find better uses for it.

Brad

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This common Spanish language expression, like so many others, does not have a direct translation into English, but the general meaning is “more than expected” or “amply”. The following examples will give you an idea of how it is used in Spanish:

Spanish

1. Las ventajas de este plan superan con creces las desventajas.
2. El ciclista batió el record con creces.
3. Las ventas están superando nuestras expectativas con creces.
4. Recuperaremos los gastos con creces en sólo tres meses.
5. El nuevo jugador cumplió con creces lo que se esperaba de él.

English

1. The advantages of this plan far exceed the disadvantages.
2. The cyclist beat the record by an ample margen.
3. Sales are greatly exceeding our expectations.
4. We’ll easily recover costs and then some in just three months.
5. The new player played even better than expected.

Brad

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This short post is about the common Spanish idiom “no tiene abuela” or “parece que no tiene abuela” which is a humorously critical expression used when someone sings his or her own praises too much. The logic of the expressions is easy to follow: your grandmother is usually the one who talks on and on about what a nice, good-looking, extremely intelligent boy or girl that you are and, if you don’t have a grandmother, then you have to do it yourself. That’s why the English equivalent is “to blow one’s own horn” or “to be full of oneself”.

By the way, this the most fantastic, cleverly crafted blog about learning Spanish that has ever been created not only in the history of the Internet, but also in the history of mankind.

Does anyone care to post the proper reply to the above sentence using our new expression?

Brad

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I’ve chosen this expression since students have asked my about it many times. It’s obvious why they ask – the literal translation makes no sense at all in English. And I just discovered that I had serious problems finding a translation for it on a Google search. So let me try to fill the gap: the best translation I can come up with is “no reason to” or “not have a reason to”. Let’s see how that works with some examples:

Spanish

1. No tienes por qué venir mañana porque viene Jorge.
2. No tenemos por qué comprar una casa nueva – ésta está bien.
3. No tienes por qué preocuparte por mí – estoy bien.
4. Ustedes no tienen por qué mentir.

English

1. You don’t have any reason to come in tomorrow because Jorge is coming.
2. We don’t have any reason to buy a new house – this one is OK.
3. You don’t have any reason to worry about me – I’m fine.
4. You don’t have any reason to lie.

Brad

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A short post today about a fairly common Spanish idiom:

un no sé qué = a certain something

where the Spanish is literally “an I don’t know what”. Some examples:

Spanish

1. Ese cuadro tiene un no sé qué que no tienen los otros.
2. Ella me gusta por ese no sé qué que tiene.
3. Ese juego tiene un no sé qué que hace que quieras repetir.

English

1. That painting has a certain something that the others don’t have.
2. I like her because of that certain something that she has.
3. That game has a certain something that makes you want to play it again.

The Spanish phrase “algo especial” (something special) is synonymous with this phrase. The Spanish phrases below mean the same as those above:

Spanish

1. Ese cuadro tiene algo especial que no tienen los otros.
2. Ella me gusta por algo especial que tiene.
3. Ese juego tiene algo especial que hace que quieras repetir.

Brad

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We have a nice Spanish idiom today for using when you find or received exactly what you needed, wanted or were looking for. It’s usually used in a phrase like this:

Me viene como el anillo al dedo.

Of course, the “me” will change according to who is being benefitted:

Me / te / le / nos / os / les viene como el anillo al dedo. (It’s just what I / you / he-she / we /you /they were looking for).

The literal translation “like a ring on a finger” is similar to the English “it fits like a glove”, but it isn’t used in the same way. Here are some example translations of “me viene como el anillo al dedo” into English. We’ll suppose that the situation is one where you’ve decided that you need to buy a new car, you don’t have much money, and your neighbor tells you that he will sell you his cheap since he never uses it. “me viene como el anillo al dedo” could be expressed in English as:

1. That’s just what I needed!
2. That’s exactly what I was looking for.
3. That suits me perfectly!
4. That’s come just at the right time!
5. That’s a real godsend!
6. That’s just what the doctor ordered!

I’m sure there are other ways to translate the phrase, but the above should give you an idea.

Brad

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This morning as I was walking down the street, two women were having an animated conversation and just as they passed me, one of them said “…y de buenas a primeras me dice que no“.

This is one of those idioms whose literal translation makes no sense at all in English but does have an equivalent meaning: “suddenly / all of a sudden” emphasizing the unexpectedness of whatever is being discussed. So the lady actually said “…and all of a sudden he said no” and she by using this expression she was emphasizing that she wasn’t expecting the negative answer. It’s a common expression – maybe you’ll find it useful.

Brad

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