What are some funny sayings in Spanish?

Answer 1

I bought a book years ago called "2001 Spanish and English Idioms" I don't know if it's still in print. One fun example of an idiom: 

I have to sleep on it (i.e. think about it overnight):

Tengo que consultarlo con la almohada.

 

A cute one that I heard recently:  I think it means "neither here nor there" or "it makes no difference," or "neither good nor bad." The way that the speaker was using it indicated more like, "lukewarm" or "wishy-washy" 

 

I have a Cuban friend who uses a lot of expressions. If you know any cubanos, maybe you can ask them! 

 

 

Answer 2

I like many of them one of my favourites is "Guagua que no llora no mama" it means if you don't say or do something, you won't get anything. The English translation could be "Baby who doesn't cry doesn't be breastfed".

Answer 3

My favorite saying is " El diablo sabe mas por viejo que por diablo". It is dear to me as an octogenarian..."The devil knows more because he's old than because he's the devil".

 

Another favorite is: "Ladrón juzga por su condicion" - "A thief judges because of his condition"...in other words,  because he is a thief, he judges everyone to be a thief... a womanizer believes his wife to be unfaithful.   

Answer 4

There are lots! And they differfrom country to country. One great source of sayings — called "dichos" or "refranes" — is the novel Don Quixote by Cervantes. The character Sancho Panza and his wife Teresa, who are campesinos, tend to utter their wisdom in dichos only, to the point that Don Quixote gets angry at Sancho! If you want to investigate some of them, go to this link: http://www.refranerocastellano.com/refran/refran3.html

Of course, one thing to remember is that dichos cannot be translated word-for-word for their meaning, they must be interpreted; and often their equal in English (if they have one) contains the same meaning in completely different words. Here are some to have fun with:

1) Por el hilo se saca el ovillo. (literal: One pulls out the ball of yarn by a thread.) Means: From a small hint you can grasp the whole idea.

2) Quien destaja no baraja. (literal: He who deals doesn't cut the cards.) Means: It's best not to do two things at once if you wish to avoid difficulties.

3) One from mi abuelo argentino: Él que sabe sabe, y él que no es el presidente. (Literal: he who knows, knows; and he who knows nothing is the President.) This dicho, in our family, was often shortened simply to El que sabe sabe, because we already knew the rest of it! Meaning: the most mediocre people rise to the top.

 

Have fun with dichos and refranes! As I mentioned, they are very popular among country people, and can be a great way to spice up your Spanish.

 

Kind regards,

Dorothy