Translation Article 647, Spanish Insights: 10 idioms with their literal and meaningful translations.
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
US Certified Court Interpreter 1980 / Ph.D. Spanish Portuguese 1981 / 24 years university professor / Estimates: 12,000+ depositions, hearings, etc. / 850 trials / 3000 documents / Conference Interpreter 650 conferences
Translation Article 647, Spanish Insights: 10 idioms with their literal and meaningful translations.
The following ten (10) idioms along with their literal and meaningful translations follow. They are: “que las zurzan, salir zumbando, estar hecho un zorro, una habitación está hecho un zorro, estar zorra, llevar a alguien como un zarandillo, estaban como tres en un zapato, meter a alguien en un zapato, saber dónde aprieta el zapato, estar en zancos.
1) que las zurzan!
[Let them be put together! Let them be joined! Let them be concocted!]
To hell with them!
2) salir zumbando
[to leave buzzing, to leave whirring]
to shoot off, to rush
3) estar hecho un zorro
[to be made a fox, to be foxy, to be crafty]
to be very drowsy
4) estar hechos unos zorros
[to be made some foxes / to be made foxy / crafty]
to be in an awful state
5) Esa persona está zorra.
[That person is crafty / foxy]
That person is all in.
6) llevar a alguien como un zarandillo
[to keep somebody like and active person / fidget]
to keep somebody on the go
7) estaban como tres en un zapato
[there were around three in one show]
They were packed in like sardines.
8) meter a alguien en un zapato
[stick somebody in a shoe]
to bring somebody to heel
9) sabe donde aprieta el zapato
[know where the shoe squeezes]
to know the score
10) estar en zancos
[to be on stilts]
to be high up
Sources
Collins. Spanish-English English-Spanish Dictionary. Collins. Ninth US Edition, 2009.