Spanish "Golden" Phrases

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Reply 40

Wanischa

Original post by greebo-man

I LOVE this. Do they actually use it!

I think so. My Spanish teacher loves it.
I only found it because I read the whole book for Spanish slangs :P

Reply 41

greebo-man

Original post by Wanischa

I think so. My Spanish teacher loves it.
I only found it because I read the whole book for Spanish slangs :P

Shotgun using it! My fave idiom.

Reply 42

S_123

Original post by Wanischa

My favourite phrases:

Está en un calléjon sin sálida.
Salir de Guatemala para entrar a Guatepeor.
Está entre la espalda y la pared.
No estoy persuadido/a de que sea el caso.
Dudo que sea así.
Es un tema que ya me interesa/preocupa desde hace algún tiempo.
Tengo que confesarme.

Could you tell me what these mean please?

I don't really know any Spanish phrases. I like that they say 'Jesus' after someone sneezes though :p:

Reply 43

Wanischa

Original post by S_123

Could you tell me what these mean please?

I don't really know any Spanish phrases. I like that they say 'Jesus' after someone sneezes though :p:

Está en un calléjon sin sálida. - To be in a place with no way out.
Salir de Guatemala para entrar a Guatepeor. - To go from bad to worst.
Está entre la espalda y la pared. - To be in between a rock and a hard place.
No estoy persuadido/a de que sea el caso. - I'm not persuaded that that's the case.
Dudo que sea así. - I doubt that it's like that.
Es un tema que ya me interesa/preocupa desde hace algún tiempo. - It's a topic which has interest/worry me for some time.
Tengo que confesarme. - I have to confess.

Original post by greebo-man

Shotgun using it! My fave idiom.

How can you shotgun it when I've been using it first :redface:

You can borrow it though.

Reply 44

S_123

Original post by Wanischa

You can borrow it though.

Thank you!!

Reply 45

cuche

Original post by Wanischa

You can borrow it though.

If you're gonna use south american idioms you'll have to write like they do meaning no more vosotros etc

Reply 46

Wanischa

Original post by cuche

If you're gonna use south american idioms you'll have to write like they do meaning no more vosotros etc

When writing essay, I don't use vosotros. I use ellos/él form.
I have never mention using vosotros. I don't think I ever use vosotros....apart from when I lived in Spain :/

Reply 47

xoxjubixox

Original post by watsoben

Se tiene que hacer hincapie en que - One has to emphasise that
Vale agregar que - its worth adding that

Por la otra cara de la moneda - the other side of the coin (idoim)

Hi, could you tell me if you should use subjunctive after
Se tiene que hacer hincapie en que?

Reply 48

samneal

I use "Que... + subj" quite often, especially in day-to-day conversation with friends.

For example:

¡Que duermas bien! - Sleep well!
¡Que todo vaya bien! - I hope everything goes well!

These phrases should really start with "Espero que...", but they often skip the "espero". This has certainly made my Spanish sound more natural, and is also a nice surprise in exams!

It will be interesting to see what other people add to this thread; I'm always looking forward to expanding my subjunctive knowledge!

Reply 49

cuche

Original post by samneal

I'm living in a host family in Spain and they just say "¡qué duermas!" before I go to bed, they don't even put the "bien" on the end.

Reply 50

greebo-man

Original post by samneal

Just checking, the que in these exclamative expressions does take an accent on the e yeah?
Dont worry about missing it out, I always do. accents are such a drag to type, i dont even know

Reply 51

cuche

Original post by greebo-man

Just checking, the que in these exclamative expressions does take an accent on the e yeah?
Dont worry about missing it out, I always do. accents are such a drag to type, i dont even know

they do have an accent because of the exclamation mark :wink:

Reply 52

greebo-man

Original post by cuche

they do have an accent because of the exclamation mark :wink:

sweet, thought so.

Reply 53

triloko

Original post by Wanischa

Espada. Espalda means back (as in, the part of the body) the word for sword is espada.

And yeah, people do use "salir de guatemala para entrar a guatepeor", it'd depend on where you're from though. It's not hugely popular here.

Reply 54

Wanischa

Original post by triloko

True, it is, must have got confused with the Devil Backbone.
Where is here?
I think that phrase is more Latin American, which I was writing essay about Latin America.

Reply 55

speedbird

Original post by un-besito

I like 'Como si fuese lo único que importase' -as if it were the only thing that mattered
and 'este sugiere que...' this suggests that...

The first phrase should be "Como si fuese lo único que importa" and the second "Esto sugiere que" (this is technically correct, but it sounds very Spanglish).

Reply 56

speedbird

Original post by cuche

I'm living in a host family in Spain and they just say "¡qué duermas!" before I go to bed, they don't even put the "bien" on the end.

Whereabouts in Spain was that? Sounds a bit naff to me, to omit the "bien"

Reply 57

speedbird

Original post by cuche

they do have an accent because of the exclamation mark :wink:

No, it's not quite as simple as that. In "Que duermas bien", for example, "que" doesn't have an accent.

Reply 58

battycatlady

These are from the back of a bookmark I got from Lanzarote.

Very Useful Phrases:

El oso esta malo (the bear is bad)
?Por que el elefante esta rapido? (Why is the elephant quick)
Come el billete, y el perro come la rueda (I am eating the ticket, and the dog is eating the wheel)
Un puerco malo quiere un zapato (the bad pig wants a shoe)
Una vaca roja come una ventana (a red cow eats a window)
And so on.

If these aren't useful then I don't know what is :L

Reply 59

triloko

Original post by Wanischa

True, it is, must have got confused with the Devil Backbone.
Where is here?
I think that phrase is more Latin American, which I was writing essay about Latin America.

"here" is Uruguay, but Spanish varies A LOT between countries in South America. Buenos Aires and the whole or most of Uruguay speak a very similar "dialect" so to say, whereas the rest of South America (even going a couple of hours out of Buenos Aires) is completely different to us.

don't get me wrong the phrase is perfectly fine, and I've heard it here a few times, but it's not the most common around here. it's probably something more northern I guess, but I can't say it with any degree of certainty

Original post by battycatlady

I have never heard of those in my life to be honest, but they may be Spanish. they don't make any sense here though, sorry I cant help you on that one!