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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Five old Spanish sayings you’ll learn from abuelos

Spanish sayings don't always make sense when translated literally but quite often have an equivalent idiom in English.

Published: 21 February 2020 12:59 CET
Five old Spanish sayings you'll learn from abuelos
The old ones are often the best ones. Photo: AFP

The Spanish word 'refrán' means saying or proverb. 

  • Ese es un viejo refrán que siempre lo decía mi abuelo.

        That is an old saying that my grandfather said all the time.

 

Here are some of our favourite old Spanish sayings and the equivalent english idiom.

 

  • Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.

       A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

 

  • A quien madruga, dios le ayuda.

        The early bird catches the worm.

 

  • A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan.

           A word is enough to the wise.

 

  • No hay mal que por bien no venga

          Every cloud has a silver lining.

 

  • Dime con quién andas y te diré cómo eres.

         Hunt with cats and you'll only catch rats

Check out our other word of the day posts

This language article been contributed by LAE Madrid, the leading Spanish academy in Madrid. Accredited by the Insitituto Cervantes, it offers Spanish courses for all levels and also has Spanish classes for kids and families.

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LEARNING SPANISH

Spanish Words of the Day: En plan 

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

Published: 18 April 2024 14:39 CEST
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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