Vocabulary

Essential Expressions

Common English idiomatic expressions with Spanish and Chinese translations.

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Essential Expressions

Phrase	Spanish	English	Chinese	Definition
Break a leg	Mucha mierda	Break a leg	祝zhù好hǎo运yùn	Wish someone good luck, especially before a performance.
Piece of cake	Pan comido	Piece of cake	小xiǎo菜cài一yì碟dié	Something very easy to do.
Hit the books	Ponerse a estudiar	Hit the books	用yòng功gōng读dú书shū	Start studying seriously.
Once in a blue moon	Cada muerte de obispo	Once in a blue moon	千qiān载zǎi难nán逢féng	Something that happens very rarely.
Let the cat out of the bag	Descubrir el pastel	Let the cat out of the bag	泄xiè露lòu秘mì密mì	Reveal a secret accidentally.
Bite the bullet	Afrontar el problema	Bite the bullet	咬yǎo紧jǐn牙yá关guān	Face a difficult situation with courage.
Cost an arm and a leg	Costar un ojo de la cara	Cost an arm and a leg	非fēi常cháng昂áng贵guì	Be very expensive.
Under the weather	Indispuesto	Under the weather	身shēn体tǐ不bù舒shū服fu	Feeling slightly sick or unwell.
The ball is in your court	Te toca a ti	The ball is in your court	轮lún到dào你nǐ了le	It is your turn to take action or make a decision.
Kill two birds with one stone	Matar dos pájaros de un tiro	Kill two birds with one stone	一yí举jǔ两liǎng得dé	Accomplish two things with a single action.
Spill the beans	Soltar la sopa	Spill the beans	说shuō漏lòu嘴zuǐ	Reveal secret information.
Burn the midnight oil	Trabajar hasta tarde	Burn the midnight oil	开kāi夜yè车chē	Work late into the night.
A penny for your thoughts	¿En qué piensas?	A penny for your thoughts	你nǐ在zài想xiǎng什shén么me	Ask someone what they are thinking about.
Beat around the bush	Andarse con rodeos	Beat around the bush	拐guǎi弯wān抹mò角jiǎo	Avoid getting to the point; speak indirectly.
Barking up the wrong tree	Ir por mal camino	Barking up the wrong tree	找zhǎo错cuò对duì象xiàng	Pursue a mistaken or misguided line of thought.
Cut corners	Hacer las cosas a medias	Cut corners	偷tōu工gōng减jiǎn料liào	Do something poorly or cheaply to save time or money.
Hit the nail on the head	Dar en el clavo	Hit the nail on the head	一yì针zhēn见jiàn血xiě	Describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem.
Jump on the bandwagon	Subirse al carro	Jump on the bandwagon	随suí大dà流liú	Join a popular trend or activity.
Leave no stone unturned	No dejar piedra por mover	Leave no stone unturned	不bù遗yí余yú力lì	Do everything possible to find something or solve a problem.
On cloud nine	En el séptimo cielo	On cloud nine	欣xīn喜xǐ若ruò狂kuáng	Extremely happy or euphoric.
Pull someone's leg	Tomar el pelo a alguien	Pull someone's leg	开kāi玩wán笑xiào	Tease or joke with someone.
See eye to eye	Estar de acuerdo	See eye to eye	意yì见jiàn一yí致zhì	Agree with someone completely.
Speak of the devil	Hablando del rey de Roma	Speak of the devil	说shuō曹cáo操cāo曹cáo操cāo到dào	The person we were just talking about appears.
Take a rain check	Aceptar para otra vez	Take a rain check	改gǎi天tiān吧ba	Postpone an offer or plan to a later date.
The best of both worlds	Lo mejor de ambos mundos	The best of both worlds	两liǎng全quán其qí美měi	Benefit from two different opportunities at once.
Time flies	El tiempo vuela	Time flies	光guāng阴yīn似sì箭jiàn	Time passes very quickly.
To get bent out of shape	Ponerse histérico	To get bent out of shape	大dà发fā雷léi霆tíng	Get upset or angry about something.
When pigs fly	Cuando las ranas críen pelo	When pigs fly	太tài阳yáng从cóng西xī边biān出chū	Something that will never happen.
You can say that again	No me digas	You can say that again	说shuō得de对duì	Strong agreement with what was said.
Add insult to injury	Para más inri	Add insult to injury	伤shāng口kǒu上shàng撒sǎ盐yán	Make a bad situation even worse.
Back to square one	Volver a empezar	Back to square one	重chóng新xīn开kāi始shǐ	Return to the starting point with no progress.
Call it a day	Dar por terminado	Call it a day	收shōu工gōng了le	Decide to stop working for the day.
A blessing in disguise	Una bendición disfrazada	A blessing in disguise	因yīn祸huò得dé福fú	A good thing that seemed bad at first.
A dime a dozen	A dos por peso	A dime a dozen	多duō得de是shì	Very common and easy to get.
Actions speak louder than words	Las acciones hablan más que las palabras	Actions speak louder than words	行xíng动dòng胜shèng于yú言yán辞cí	What you do is more important than what you say.
All bark and no bite	Mucho ruido y pocas nueces	All bark and no bite	光guāng说shuō不bù做zuò	Threatening but not acting.
An arm and a leg	Un ojo de la cara	An arm and a leg	天tiān价jià	Very expensive.
Apple of my eye	La niña de mis ojos	Apple of my eye	掌zhǎng上shàng明míng珠zhū	Someone cherished above all others.
As right as rain	Como nuevo	As right as rain	完wán全quán健jiàn康kāng	Perfectly fine and healthy.
Barking up the wrong tree	Ir por mal camino	Barking up the wrong tree	找zhǎo错cuò对duì象xiàng	Pursuing the wrong course of action.
Be glad to see the back of	Alegrarse de que se vaya	Be glad to see the back of	很hěn高gāo兴xìng看kàn到dào某mǒu人rén离lí开kāi	Happy when someone leaves.
Beat a dead horse	Matar el tiempo	Beat a dead horse	徒tú劳láo无wú功gōng	Waste effort on something already decided.
Bite off more than you can chew	Abrirse más de la cuenta	Bite off more than you can chew	贪tān多duō嚼jiáo不bù烂làn	Take on a task too big to handle.
By the skin of your teeth	Por los pelos	By the skin of your teeth	勉miǎn强qiǎng	Just barely succeed.
Cash cow	Vaca lechera	Cash cow	摇yáo钱qián树shù	A reliable source of income.
Caught between a rock and a hard place	Entre la espada y la pared	Caught between a rock and a hard place	进jìn退tuì两liǎng难nán	Face a difficult choice with no easy options.
Chew the fat	Charlar	Chew the fat	闲xián聊liáo	Have a friendly chat.
Close but no cigar	Casi pero no	Close but no cigar	差chà一yì点diǎn	Nearly successful but not quite.
Cold turkey	De golpe	Cold turkey	突tū然rán戒jiè断duàn	Quit something abruptly.
Come rain or shine	Haga sol o llueva	Come rain or shine	风fēng雨yǔ无wú阻zǔ	No matter what happens.
Cut to the chase	Ir al grano	Cut to the chase	开kāi门mén见jiàn山shān	Get to the point quickly.
Dead ringer	Idéntico	Dead ringer	一yì模mú一yí样yàng	Looks exactly like someone else.
Don't cry over spilt milk	A lo hecho, pecho	Don't cry over spilt milk	覆fù水shuǐ难nán收shōu	Don't worry about past mistakes.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket	No pongas todos los huevos en una canasta	Don't put all your eggs in one basket	不bù要yào孤gū注zhù一yí掷zhì	Don't risk everything on one venture.
Drastic times call for drastic measures	A grandes males, grandes remedios	Drastic times call for drastic measures	非fēi常cháng时shí期qī非fēi常cháng手shǒu段duàn	Extreme situations require extreme actions.
Elvis has left the building	Se acabó el espectáculo	Elvis has left the building	结jié束shù了le	The show is over.
Every dog has its day	Todos tenemos un día de gloria	Every dog has its day	人rén人rén都dōu有yǒu得dé意yì时shí	Everyone gets a chance eventually.
Far from it	Ni mucho menos	Far from it	远yuǎn非fēi如rú此cǐ	Not at all what was suggested.
Feel a bit under the weather	Sentirse mal	Feel a bit under the weather	身shēn体tǐ不bù舒shū服fu	Feeling slightly sick.
Give the benefit of the doubt	Dar el beneficio de la duda	Give the benefit of the doubt	姑gū且qiě相xiāng信xìn	Believe someone despite uncertainty.
Go down in flames	Irse a pique	Go down in flames	一yí败bài涂tú地dì	Fail spectacularly.
Go on a wild goose chase	Ir tras un imposible	Go on a wild goose chase	徒tú劳láo无wú功gōng	Pursue a futile or hopeless quest.
Good things come to those who wait	Las cosas buenas vienen a quienes esperan	Good things come to those who wait	好hǎo事shì多duō磨mó	Patience will be rewarded.
He lost his head	Perdió la cabeza	He lost his head	惊jīng慌huāng失shī措cuò	Panic and lose control.
Heard it on the grapevine	Lo oí por ahí	Heard it on the grapevine	小xiǎo道dào消xiāo息xi	Hear rumors from unofficial sources.
Hit the ground running	Empezar con pie derecho	Hit the ground running	马mǎ上shàng投tóu入rù	Start immediately with full effort.
Hold your horses	Espera un momento	Hold your horses	别bié急jí	Wait and be patient.
In the same boat	En la misma situación	In the same boat	同tóng病bìng相xiāng怜lián	In the same difficult situation.
Keep your chin up	No te desanimes	Keep your chin up	振zhèn作zuò起qǐ来lái	Stay positive in difficult times.
Kick the bucket	Estirar la pata	Kick the bucket	蹬dēng腿tuǐ了le	Die or break down.
Kill time	Matar el tiempo	Kill time	消xiāo磨mó时shí间jiān	Pass time while waiting.
Let sleeping dogs lie	No despertar al león dormido	Let sleeping dogs lie	别bié惹rě麻má烦fan	Don't disturb a situation that could cause trouble.
Make a long story short	Para no hacerlo largo	Make a long story short	长cháng话huà短duǎn说shuō	Summarize briefly.
Missed the boat	Perdió el tren	Missed the boat	错cuò失shī良liáng机jī	Missed an opportunity.
No pain, no gain	Sin esfuerzo no hay recompensa	No pain, no gain	不bù劳láo无wú获huò	Suffering is needed for success.
On the fence	Indeciso	On the fence	犹yóu豫yù不bù决jué	Unable to decide.
Out of the blue	De la nada	Out of the blue	突tū如rú其qí来lái	Unexpectedly and suddenly.
Over the moon	En la gloria	Over the moon	高gāo兴xìng坏huài了le	Extremely happy.
Play devil's advocate	Jugar al abogado del diablo	Play devil's advocate	故gù意yì唱chàng反fǎn调diào	Argue against for the sake of debate.
Put a sock in it	Cierra el pico	Put a sock in it	闭bì嘴zuǐ	Be quiet.
Read between the lines	Leer entre líneas	Read between the lines	领lǐng会huì言yán外wài之zhī意yì	Understand the hidden meaning.
Right off the bat	Desde el principio	Right off the bat	一yí开kāi始shǐ	From the very beginning.
Ring a bell	Sonar familiar	Ring a bell	有yǒu点diǎn印yìn象xiàng	Sound familiar.
Run out of steam	Quedarse sin energía	Run out of steam	精jīng疲pí力lì尽jìn	Lose energy or enthusiasm.
Skeleton in the closet	Un secreto vergonzoso	Skeleton in the closet	不bù可kě告gào人rén的de秘mì密mì	A hidden embarrassing secret.
Something fishy	Algo raro	Something fishy	可kě疑yí	Suspicious or doubtful.
Spill the tea	Contar el chisme	Spill the tea	八bā卦guà	Share gossip.
Bite the bullet	Tragar saliva	Bite the bullet	咬yǎo紧jǐn牙yá关guān	Face a painful situation bravely.
Break the ice	Romper el hielo	Break the ice	打dǎ破pò僵jiāng局jú	Initiate conversation in a tense situation.
Burn the midnight oil	Quemarse las cejas	Burn the midnight oil	开kāi夜yè车chē	Work late into the night.
Cost an arm and a leg	Costar un ojo de la cara	Cost an arm and a leg	贵guì得de要yào命mìng	Be very expensive.
Cut corners	Tomar atajos	Cut corners	偷tōu工gōng减jiǎn料liào	Do something poorly to save time or money.
Hit the sack	Irse a dormir	Hit the sack	睡shuì觉jiào	Go to bed.
Miss the boat	Perder la oportunidad	Miss the boat	错cuò过guò机jī会huì	Miss an opportunity.
Play it by ear	Improvisar	Play it by ear	随suí机jī应yìng变biàn	Decide as things develop rather than planning.
Pull someone's leg	Tomar el pelo	Pull someone's leg	开kāi玩wán笑xiào	Tease or joke with someone.
See eye to eye	Estar de acuerdo	See eye to eye	看kàn法fǎ一yí致zhì	Agree with someone.
Take it with a grain of salt	No creerse algo del todo	Take it with a grain of salt	半bàn信xìn半bàn疑yí	Be skeptical about something.
The ball is in your court	Te toca a ti	The ball is in your court	轮lún到dào你nǐ了le	It is your turn to act or respond.
Under the weather	Sentirse mal	Under the weather	身shēn体tǐ不bù舒shū服fu	Feel slightly ill.