The book of life
I love Spanish proverbs - they can be very poetic and straight to the point at the same time. This is my favourite one: Lo que en los libros no está, la vida te enseñará. That which isn't in books, life will teach you - meaning there are certain things you have to experience rather than read about.
Sent by: Scott
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Eres más fea que los sabacos de un mono. You are uglier than a monkey's armpits.
It's amazing to see how similar Spanish proverbs are to the Italian ones (my mother tongue). There's almost always an equivalent one.
Anyway I really like this one: Perro ladrador, poco mordedor.
Lit. A barking dog doesn’t bite much, to say that who makes a fuss about things, in the end won't really bother you. And the Italian equivalent is: Can che abbaia non morde.
A couple of Spanish idioms that I like are:
Lo que no mata engorda. Lit. If it doesn't kill you it'll put weight on you, used when you're about to eat something that looks a bit dodgy. And: Esta lloviendo a cantaros. Lit. It's raining by the jugful, i.e it's raining cats and dogs.
En boca abierta entran moscas. Bugs enter an open mouth.
(To anyone gawping at you.)
An old saying goes in Ottoman Turkiye: Hayat yaşanır kitaplardan okunmaz it means experience is more valuable then knowledge!
To call a spade a spade: llamar al pan pan y al vino vino, to call bread bread and wine wine.
Look before you leap: antes que de te cases, mira lo que haces, before you get married, look at what you're doing.
Don't make a big deal out of nothing: no hay que hogarse en un vaso de agua, you don't have to drown in a glass of water.
To suck up to someone: hacer la pata a alguién, to do somebody the leg.
To run like the wind: ir como un pedo, to go like a fart.
There is always some truth to a rumour: Si el rÃo suena, agua lleva. When the river makes noise, it's carrying water.
I too love Spanish proverbs. Here are a couple:
No hay mal que por bien no venga, there is no bad from which good doesn't come, (every cloud has a silver lining).
La ignorancia es atrevida, the ignorant is bold, (fools rush in).
Una es tarada hasta que deja de serlo.
(One is stupid until she ceases to be)
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