sábado, 28 de febrero de 2015

Idioms to take into account!

Hellos dear readers, I hope you are doing well.  

You do not think 'Idiom' means literally 'idioma' in Spanish, it could be a False Friend, (for those who don't know what do 'False Friends' mean, they are words in a language that look/sound similar to others in another language but differ significantly in meaning)*. Returning to the topic, Idioms are own words or phrases from a specific culture or society and have a significance when they are together, but if you try to understand word by word, maybe they would lose its meaning, sometimes you can translate literally, but it does not work always. Idioms are an important way to speak in a social context; they help us to save words and to say something differently. Learn them properly helps you to communicate better, to increase your vocabulary and feel every day almost like a native one. When you use them, be careful and take into account that they can have a different meaning in every place. 

Now I am going to share some common Idioms in English and their respective translation in Spanish. The following translations are made by me:

 -'Be glad to see the back of (someone)'. 
It is about being happy when a person leaves, when someone is gone or something is finished. I know most of you were happy when your Math teacher left the classroom, hahaha (I am just pulling your leg). In Spanish it could be: 'Estar feliz porque alguien por fin se va o algo termina'.
E.g: "María was glad to see the back of his husband, she had a date with her neighbor"

- 'Bite off more than you can chew'. 
When a person tries to do more than he/she really can. Also when that person promises something he/she can not keep. This idiom is not always related to food. In Spanish it could be: 'Comer más de lo que puedas masticar' or 'No comas ansias'. 
E.g: "Pedro was promising free transportation for everyone when he was mayor, he was biting off more than he could chew"

- 'Judge a book by its cover'. 
Most of us are used to do it every time, if you are not, congratulations. It is when a person judges something primarily on appearance. In Spanish it could be: 'Juzgar un libro por su portada' o 'Juzgar a alguien sin conocerlo'.
E.g: "Elena thinks Mario is smart and funny just because he is tall and Caucasian".

- 'Kill two birds with one stone'
Hey, it is not so literally, it is when a person accomplishes two different things at the same time, women are expert doing that! In Spanish it could be: 'Matar dos pájaros de un solo tiro'. 
E.g: "My mother can assist the family and manage a company at the same time, she can kill two birds with one stone". 

-'Piece of cake'
This is one of the most common idioms in English, it is when a job, a task or any activity is easy or simple or does not require too much work. In Spanish it could be: 'Más fácil que la tabla del 1' or 'Eso es pan comido'
E.g: "Jean Paul asked us for a task about idioms, that is just a piece of cake". 

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I would like to know if there is any Idiom you do not understand or you really like and use in your lifetime, please share it, does not matter if it is in Spanish, English, Portuguese or French. 
What do you think about idioms in society? 
Do you think they are useful? Why? Why not?

See you soon!

  *Definition taken from Wikipedia. 

18 comentarios:

  1. Viel Aufhebens von etwas machen (Darle mucho bombo a algo). That is something we like to do A LOT here.

    Nice post I enjoyed your post. I could laugth reading you :p

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    1. Lol, I do not speak German but I will keep in mind that Idiom... Thanks for commenting.

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  2. Tomber dans des pommes (To pass away) I really love french jaja, thank you duvan for sharing it with us, we can always learn something new in orden to understand a culture and their ways to communicate

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  3. Very good your comments and very true when we translate word for word no sense idiom but if we look at it can literally mean something.

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    1. We translate word by word* I think thats the right way. Thank you very much Eli.

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  4. The example of piece of cake was excelent LoL .... I enjoyed your work

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  5. Very interesting post duvan,... I like this idiom for me is so funny "Más ordinario que morcilla con centro de arequipe " I laugh so much when someone say that.(Camila ) :D

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    1. Jajajajaja, WTF! who says that! that is so grotesque, lol. Thanks for commenting... maybe 'la morcilla con arequipe' tastes delicious...

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  6. Respuestas
    1. Hi Esteban, thank you very much for answering. I cannot believe you do not know any idioms!

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  7. Mister Duvan, how do you do?

    Many thanks for sharing your idioms.
    They are simply useful as Tatiana coins.

    See you soon!

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    1. Hello Julián, I am fine, thank you. I want to know if you know any idiom you would like to share with us? Thanks a lot.

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    2. Mister Duvan, I was just thinking of that but I decided to bit the dust. I was so hard reminding of :p.

      See ya!

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    3. Hahaha OK, so bite* the dust again and dig your own grave...

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