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LEARNING SPANISH

La mosca: Eight buzzing Spanish expressions to do with flies

For some reason, there are lots of expressions in Spanish that are derived from the word for fly (mosca) - unsurprisingly many of them related to anger or annoyance - all of which are worth learning.

spanish expressions mosca
'Estar mosqueado' means to be angry in Spanish. Photo: Deca Zafra/Pexels

Estar mosqueado/a: A very common and colloquial adjective to express that you’re angry, or pissed off rather. It’s also possible to call this anger un mosqueo. Some people also shorten estar mosqueado/a to estar mosca, which has exactly the same meaning.

Example:

Está super mosqueada porque perdieron el partido.

She’s really pissed off because they lost the match. 

Por si las moscas: It’s another very popular way of saying por si acaso, just in case in English. Apparently the ‘just in case the flies’ expression was born as a result of having to cover food with a cloth to prevent the flies from eating it.

Example:

Llévate el paraguas, por si las moscas. 

Take the umbrella, just in case. 

¿Qué mosca te ha picado?: A bit like saying ‘What’s got into you?’, an exclamation of surprise at moody or unfriendly behaviour on the part of someone.

Example:

¿Qué mosca te ha picado? Estás de un humor de perros.

¿What’s got into you? You’re in a terrible mood.

Con la mosca detrás de la oreja: Literally meaning ‘with the fly behind the ear’, it refers to the feeling of being on guard, suspicious or unsettled by something.

Example: Después de escuchar como hablaban de él a sus espaldas, se quedó con la mosca detrás de la oreja.

After hearing how they spoke about him behind his back, he had his guard up. 

Cazar moscas: In its literal sense it means to hunt flies, but in reality it refers to wasting time or occupying one’s time doing useless things. 

Example:

No da un palo al agua, se pasa la vida cazando moscas.

He doesn’t lift a finger, he spends his life procrastinating.

En boca cerrada no entran moscas: ‘Flies don’t go into a closed mouth’ is a Spanish saying that basically means if you keep your mouth shut, you can avoid problems. It’s slightly different to the English saying ‘A closed mouth gathers no feet’ as this applies more to keeping quiet in order to not say anything embarrassing.

Example:

Yo que tú, no diría nada. En boca cerrada no entran moscas.

If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything. Better to keep quiet and avoid problems.

Aflojar la mosca: To ‘loosen the fly’ really means to pay for something, sometimes somewhat reluctantly, be it a debt or a round of drinks. 

Example:

¡Venga, afloja la mosca que te toca!

¡Go on, pay up as it’s your turn!

Mosquita muerta: A ‘small dead fly’ is actually a way of referring to a two-faced person in Spanish, someone who plays the victim or pretends to be innocent but who in fact has other Machevelian plans.

Example:

Cuidado con Javier, se hace la mosquita muerta pero tiene bastante culpa en el asunto.

Careful with Javier, he plays innocent but he’s fairly guilty in the matter.

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LEARNING SPANISH

Spanish Words of the Day: En plan 

Saying ‘en plan’ in Spanish is a bit like…

Spanish Words of the Day: En plan 

En plan is used all the time in spoken Spanish when you want to express intention, mode and attitude.

For example, salimos en plan amigos, ‘we went out as friends’. 

Or estamos en plan fiesta, ‘we’re in party mode’. 

Va vestida en plan militar, ‘she’s wearing military-style clothing’.

In essence, it’s a fast and easier way of setting the scene, a versatile means of describing which is like saying ‘like’, or ‘as’, ‘-mode’ or ‘-style’ in English. 

However, the meanings of en plan have expanded recently thanks to young people, who have adopted it a bit like their filler word or pet phrase (what Spaniards call una muletilla). 

En plan is now used similarly to o sea, used to explain in another way or exemplifies what is being said.

READ MORE: What does ‘o sea’ mean in Spanish?

For example, María está desaparecida, en plan no la veo desde hace más de un año.

‘María has completely disappeared, I mean, I haven’t seen her in more than a year’.

It’s also used when you want to express something as if it were a quote. 

El policía me dijo en plan te voy a multar, ‘the police officer was like ‘I’m going to fine you’’.

Therefore, en plan has become a bit like saying ‘like’ when talking in English and joining ideas together or emphasising something. 

It can be a bit exasperating to hear teens use it all the time, as in:

Hablé con Julia en plan buen rollo, y me dijo en plan eres una cabrona, que ya no quiere ser mi amiga, en plan que no quiere quedar más. 

‘I spoke to Julia on like good terms, and she was like ‘you’re a bitch’, she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, like she doesn’t want to meet up anymore’.

If you don’t believe us, take Robert De Niro’s and Jack Nicholson’s word for it. 

However, en plan can be a very useful tool to get to the point quickly and avoid more complicated sentence constructions in Spanish.

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