/keˈdaɾse de ˈpjedɾa/ lit. ‘to turn to stone’
Spanish idiom, everyday. To be so astonished you can hardly believe what you’re seeing or hearing.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Quedarse de piedra
?
Everyday and neutral, said by anyone about news, a price or a sight that stops them dead. Usually in the past: “me quedé de piedra”, “se quedó de piedra cuando le dieron la noticia”. Use “dejar de piedra” for the thing that does the stunning: “la noticia me dejó de piedra”.
Also said dejar de piedra
Quedarse de piedra
in real sentences
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Me quedé de piedra.
I was dumbstruck.
Tatoeba, sentence by arh, translation by AlanF_US, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Guillermo se quedó de piedra cuando le dieron la noticia.
Guillermo was stunned when they gave him the news.
Tatoeba, sentence by Shishir, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Quedarse de piedra
come from?
The picture is someone so shocked they stop moving, as if they’d been turned into a statue. English Wiktionary lists “de piedra” with the sense “shocked; frozen; stock-still” and points to the Real Academia dictionary. We found no record of its first use, and no source links it to any particular story about people turned to stone.
Mistakes learners make with Quedarse de piedra
Using “ser”: “soy de piedra” means “I’m made of stone”, that is, unfeeling. The surprise needs “quedarse”: “me quedé de piedra”.
Other Spanish idioms like Quedarse de piedra
Spot a mistake in Quedarse de piedra
?
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