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Leitfaden · Einheit 19 · C1

Idioms & Slang

How Spaniards actually talk

  1. 1

    Meter la pata: when things go wrong

    Messing up, taking the blame, grinning and bearing it — six idioms for a bad day.

    • Meter la pata — to put your foot in it; hacer el ridículo — to make a fool of yourself.
    • Pagar el pato — to take the blame for someone else.
    • Tragar quina — to grin and bear it; tirar la toalla — to give up.
    • Estar hasta las narices (de) — to be fed up (with).
    • The verb conjugates, the rest stays fixed: he metido la pata, ¿quién pagó el pato?
    • All spoken and casual: in formal writing, he cometido un error.
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  2. 2

    Hablar por los codos: people and their quirks

    Chatterboxes, daydreamers and people who speak their mind — plus Spain's unlucky day and how to ward it off.

    • Hablar por los codos — to talk nonstop; no tener pelos en la lengua — to speak your mind.
    • Estar en las nubes — to be daydreaming; estar como una cabra — to be mad (affectionately).
    • Marear la perdiz — to go round in circles; echar leña al fuego — to add fuel to the fire.
    • Tomar el pelo a alguien: Me estás tomando el pelo — the pronoun, then el, never mi.
    • Spain's unlucky day is martes y trece; ward it off with ¡Toco madera! — and do things por si las moscas.
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  3. 3

    Guay, mola, flipar: slang for great and awful

    The words Spaniards use for cool, dodgy and amazing — how they work, and when to leave them out.

    • Guay — cool (plural guais); chulo — nice, about things; chungo — dodgy, bad.
    • Molar works like gustar: me mola, me molan.
    • Flipar — to be amazed: ¡Estoy flipando! Mogollón de — loads of.
    • Rácano — stingy; caradura — cheeky so-and-so.
    • Fine among friends; in interviews, meetings and emails, leave the slang out.
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  4. 4

    Tío, vale, venga: how friends talk

    The little words in every Spanish chat, slang for work and money — and the ones to keep away from your boss.

    • Vale — OK; venga — come on / OK / bye; tranqui — relax; ¿sabes? — you know?
    • Tío / tía — mate, guy; only with friends and people your own age.
    • Currar, el curro — work; la pasta — money.
    • Costar un ojo de la cara — to cost an arm and a leg; hacer el agosto — to make a killing.
    • However common it is, joder is a swear word: at work, say jolín — or nothing.
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