Each Spanish idiom below comes with what its words literally say, what it means and how other languages put the same idea. To see every language at once, open the side-by-side page for work.
-
lit. ‘be up to the neck’
To have a lot of work or problems to deal with at once.
Elsewhere
-
lit. ‘not to give the water a single stroke (of the oar)’
To be very lazy and avoid work.
Elsewhere
-
lit. ‘kill two birds with one shot’
To get two things done with a single action.
-
lit. ‘to wind up one’s brains (like thread on a spool)’
To be stuck and unable to work something out.
Elsewhere
-
lit. ‘the cherry on the cake’
Something extra that makes a good thing even better.
Elsewhere
- EN The icing on the cake
- FR La cerise sur le gâteau
- DE Das i-Tüpfelchen
- DE Das Sahnehäubchen
- IT La ciliegina sulla torta
- JA 画竜点睛
-
Al mejor cazador se le va la liebre
lit. ‘even the best hunter lets the hare get away’
Even the most skilled people sometimes make mistakes.
Elsewhere
- EN Even Homer nods
- FR Il n’y a si bon cheval qui ne bronche
- IT Sbaglia anche il prete all’altare
- JA 猿も木から落ちる
-
lit. ‘it’s eaten bread’
Something is very easy to do.
Elsewhere
- EN A piece of cake
- FR C’est du gâteau
- DE Ein Kinderspiel
- IT Un gioco da ragazzi
- JA 朝飯前
-
lit. ‘to make the partridge dizzy’
To keep putting something off instead of dealing with it.
-
Más lento que el caballo del malo
lit. ‘slower than the bad guy’s horse’
Very slowly.
Elsewhere
- EN At a snail’s pace
- FR Avancer comme un escargot
- DE Im Schneckentempo
- IT A passo di lumaca
- JA 牛歩
-
lit. ‘to throw the towel’
To give up and admit defeat.
Elsewhere
- EN Throw in the towel
- FR Jeter l’éponge
- DE Das Handtuch werfen
- IT Gettare la spugna
- JA お手上げ
Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest don’t have their own page yet.