Spaniards have many ways of expressing shock and surprise. In fact, we have an article which lists them all in detail, from ¡Madre mía! to ¡No me lo creo!.

But how about when you want to clearly express that you don’t believe what you’ve just heard?

That’s when Spanish speakers use the expression ¡Anda ya!.

It’s similar to when British people say ‘come off it’ or ‘pull the other one’, or Americans use ‘get out of here’ or ‘you cannot be serious’ à la John McEnroe.

In its literal sense ¡anda ya! means ‘walk now’, perhaps because it alludes to the fact that the person who is exaggerating or telling a lie should go for a hike. 

¡Anda! on its own (without the ya) just suggests slight surprise.

At times, ¡anda ya! can also be used to express surprise at unexpected news in a positive sense, without it meaning that you don’t believe what you’ve just heard.

But for the most part, this expression is whipped out when you feel someone is telling porky pies (lies). 

Other ways of shrugging off comments that don’t seem believable are ¡Venga ya! (used in the same way as ¡anda ya!) no te lo crees ni tú (even you don’t believe that), ‘sí, sí, claro’ (whatever), ¿Será broma, no? (You can’t be serious!) or ni de coña (not a chance). 

Examples:

-En mi juventud, jugué para el Real Madrid junto a Di Stefano.

-¡Anda ya! Si viviste en Francia hasta los 30 años.

-In my youth, I played for Real Madrid together with Di Stefano. 

-Come off it! You lived in France until you were 30. 

-Penélope Cruz se van a presentar a la presidencia de España. 

-¡Anda ya! Eso no te lo crees ni tú!

-Penélope Cruz is going to run for the presidency of Spain. 

-Come off it! Even you don’t believe that.