20 Spanish Expressions English Speakers Keep Asking About (And What They Really Mean)

Every Spanish learner hits the same wall. You know every word in the sentence and still have no idea what the person meant. The Spanish-English Vocabulary forum on WordReference is where people go at that moment, and its recent threads are a very honest map of which expressions cause the trouble. We picked twenty that English speakers ask about repeatedly and explained each one the way a patient native friend would: the meaning, the mood, and the closest natural English.

Doing things your own way

1. Como si no hubiera un mañana. Literally “as if there were no tomorrow”, and English has the same phrase, which is why learners doubt it. Bailaron como si no hubiera un mañana. They danced like there was no tomorrow. Enthusiasm with no restraint.
2. Cuando me lo pida el cuerpo. “When my body asks for it”: I will do it when I feel like it, not on a schedule. ¿Cuándo vuelves al gimnasio? Cuando me lo pida el cuerpo. English: when I feel like it, when the mood takes me.
3. Cambiar de aires. To change your surroundings for a while, a new city or just a weekend away, because routine is wearing you down. English: a change of scene, a change of scenery.
4. Madrugar. One verb for “to get up very early”. There is no single English word, which is why the forum threads about it run long. Mañana hay que madrugar. We have an early start tomorrow.
5. Apretar el acelerador. “Press the accelerator”: to speed up a project or effort. En el último trimestre hay que apretar el acelerador. English: step on it, step up the pace, put your foot down.

Talking about people

1. Comerle la oreja a alguien. “To eat someone’s ear”: to talk to someone persistently to persuade them, often flirting or lobbying. English: to bend someone’s ear, to chat someone up, to work on someone.
2. Ser un bienqueda. Someone who agrees with everyone and avoids any conflict so they always look good. Mildly critical. English: a people-pleaser, a yes-man.
3. Ponerle un diez a alguien. “To give someone a ten”: full marks, the highest praise. A la organización le pongo un diez. English: ten out of ten, top marks.
4. No tener escuela. Not “no education” but “no training”, in the sense of lacking craft or discipline. Common in sport and music: Tiene talento pero no tiene escuela. English: raw but untrained, no technique.
5. Derrochar simpatía por los cuatro costados. “To pour out charm from all four sides”: to radiate a quality. Derrocha energía por los cuatro costados. English: to ooze charm, to be bursting with energy.

Results, fights and surprises

1. Superar con holgura. To pass or beat something comfortably, with room to spare. Superó el examen con holgura. English: to pass comfortably, to clear it with room to spare.
2. No estaba en las quinielas de nadie. The quiniela is the football pools; something that “was in nobody’s pools” was a result nobody predicted. English: nobody saw it coming, it wasn’t on anyone’s radar.
3. Pelearse por un quítame allá esas pajas. To fall out over something trivial. The phrase is old and odd even to Spaniards, which is why it is asked about so much. English: to fall out over nothing, to argue over something petty.
4. Darse un revolcón. Literally to get tumbled, as when a wave knocks you over: la ola me dio un revolcón. Be careful: with a person as the subject it is a very informal way to talk about sex. Context decides. English: to get knocked about, or to have a roll in the hay.
5. Hasta el sol de hoy. “Until today’s sun”: right up to this very day, with a hint that something still has not happened. Hasta el sol de hoy no me ha devuelto el dinero. English: to this day.

Official and everyday Spain

1. Silencio administrativo. A legal term you will meet if you live in Spain: when the administration does not answer your application within the deadline, the silence itself counts as an answer, usually a refusal. English has no single term; “deemed refusal” is the closest.
2. Con permiso. / Propio. Con permiso is what you say when you walk through or past someone. The traditional reply propio (“it’s yours”) is old-fashioned but still heard. English: excuse me, and go ahead.
3. A media voz. In a half-voice: quietly, so that not everyone hears, and in politics, discreetly. Un diálogo a media voz con Washington. English: in a low voice, under your breath, behind the scenes.
4. Un evento masivo. A mass event, a large gathering. The adjective trips people up because “massive” in English usually means huge in size, not “attended by a crowd”. English: a large-scale event, a mass gathering.
5. Palabras altisonantes. Two meanings depending on the country. In Spain, pompous, grand-sounding words. In much of Latin America, swear words. If a Mexican colleague mentions palabras altisonantes in a meeting, they mean bad language.

The quickest way to learn expressions like these

You cannot memorise your way through Spanish idioms, because the hard part is not the meaning but the moment. Who says propio? Would a thirty-year-old in Madrid say quítame allá esas pajas without irony? Only a native speaker can answer, and the fastest way to collect those answers is to ask one. A conversation lesson with a native Spanish teacher on Parlazo lets you bring a list like this one and come away knowing which five you will actually use.

Not sure what level you are? Take the free Spanish level test, or read about what changes between Spain and Mexico before you use number twenty in the wrong country.