In Spain, almost 50% of households have pets. Most of these are dogs and cats that are considered regular family members. Today, we invite you discover the meaning of two popular Spanish expressions related to our beloved felines. Click here to read this post in Spanish.

Cats have a magnetic personality. From antiquity, these animals have inspired stories, superstitions, and legends. And really, who likes seeing a black cat cross their path at nighttime? Spanish has many sayings dedicated to these furry creatures. Let’s learn a couple of them!

An animal with seven lives (or is it nine?)

How many lives does a cat have? In Spanish, Italian, Greek, and other languages, cats are said to have seven lives. However, an English speaker will tell you they have nine lives, while Arabic tradition states they have six. Where do these beliefs come from?

First, cats are extraordinarily agile and can endure just about anything. They’re able to always land on their feet and easily avoid or emerge unscathed from falls and accidents. That’s why they are known for having several lives.

The jumble of different numbers of lives we find in different languages is due to purely symbolic reasons. In Western culture, the number seven is related to good luck and even a touch of magic. Meanwhile, in ancient Egypt, the number nine was linked to the gods.

Here’s a fun fact: years ago, there was a popular show on Spanish TV called 7 vidas or 7 lives. It took place in a neighborhood in Spain’s capital city… Do you know a colloquial name for people who live in Madrid? That’s right: gatos (cats).

There’s a cat locked up in here

Today cats are a common pet, but it wasn’t always that way. In 17th-century Spain, for example, cats were street animals that no one cared much about. The Spanish saying about a locked-up cat (gato encerrado) dates back to this period.

No entiendo por qué nos ofrecen este descuento. Aquí hay gato encerrado.

I don’t understand why they’re offering this discount. There’s a locked up cat in here (There’s something fishy going on here).

As you can see from the example above, this expression is used to express distrust or a suspicion you’re being tricked. To understand this saying, we have to forget about the modern image we have of an affectionate, cuddly creature and go back a few centuries.

When cats were nothing more than street animals, their skin was sometimes tanned and made into handbags and change purses. By extension, the word gato began to be used to refer to the place were money was kept out of sight. From there, the expression gato encerrado came to mean that someone is hiding something.

If you liked today’s overview of Spanish sayings with gato, don’t miss the following video. In it, you’ll find lots of other expressions with animals to enjoy. Learn Spanish while having fun!

Warm temperatures are one of the strongest draws for tourists who visit Spain and Latin America. Who doesn’t like walking along the beach or sitting on a sunny patio with a refreshing drink?

Nevertheless, in the summertime, the sun can go from being a close ally to a burning enemy. Spanish has an expression that reveals the dark side of our reigning star. To find out what it is, keep reading or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post.

A Sun of Righteousness

Perhaps you’ve heard a Spanish speaker say hace un sol de justicia. This is one of those expressions that’s easy to understand when you have context. As you might imagine, it means that the sun is blazing and it’s very hot outside.

Hoy hace un sol de justicia en la calle. No pienso salir de casa hasta la noche.

There’s a sun of righteousness in the street today (It’s a scorcher out there today). I’m not thinking of leaving the house until nighttime.

The Origin of the Expression

The meaning of this saying is pretty clear, but the history behind it is less obvious. In fact, there are multiple theories about how it came about, but they all have one thing in common: religion.

The Book of Malachi, which forms part of the Bible, has a passage that mentions a sun of righteousness that will shine on Judgement Day. In this case, the star refers to God, who will appear on the day of the Apocalypse to save the people who have been good Christians.

Mas a vosotros los que teméis mi nombre, nacerá el Sol de justicia, y en sus alas traerá salvación; y saldréis, y saltaréis como becerros de la manada.

Malaquías 4: 2-3

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Malachi 4:2-3

Another possible explanation of today’s expression comes from medieval times and has to do with autos de fe or divine judgments organized by the Spanish Inquisition.

During these events, people were publicly tortured as punishment for their sins and to dissuade others from committing heresy. One of the most common forms of punishment was to leave victims in the sun for hours or even days.

If the person managed to survive, they were considered innocent of all the crimes they had been accused of. If, on the other hand, they died while being tortured, that was taken as proof of their guilt. In this way, the sun acted as an agent of righteousness.

If you’re interested in learning the stories behind more everyday expressions like this one, we encourage you to watch the following video. In it, you’ll find more phrases with the word sol you can use to expand your vocabulary day by day.

Spain and many Latin American countries are famous around the world for their sun and beaches. The mere mention of places like Valencia or Playa del Carmen is enough to send you drifting into a daydream featuring crystalline coastal waters and the warm feeling of sun on your face.

In today’s post, we’ll dig a little bit deeper into the important role the sun plays in the Spanish language. Slather on some sunscreen and step outside to read about two fun Spanish expressions. If you’d like to read this post in Spanish, click here. Let’s get started!

No dejar ni a sol ni a sombra

To not leave [someone] in the sun or in the shade

You really start to realize how important the sun is for a culture when you discover that time is divided into moments with sun and moments without it. That’s exactly what’s happening with this expresión.

El perro de Juan está todo el día pegado a él. No lo deja ni a sol ni a sombra.

Juan’s dog stays close to him all day long. He doesn’t leave his side in the sun or in the shade.

No dejar a alguien ni a sol ni a sombra means to be constantly by that person’s side. Every moment of the day fits into one of these two situations: all day long, either you’re in the sun or you’re in the shade.

This combination of words has also given rise to other names and expressions.

There’s a typical cocktail in Spain called sol y sombra, made with brandy and sweet anisette. If you ever go to a bullfight, you’ll see that the seats of the bullring are divided into sections depending on where the sun will be when the event begins. When you buy tickets, you’ll have to choose between seats in the sun (the cheaper option) and seats in the shade.

Arrimarse al sol que más calienta

To stay close to the warmest sun

Have you ever seen a lizard basking in the sun? Reptiles need the sun to regulate their body temperature because they’re cold-blooded. Today’s second Spanish expression has a lot to do with this natural phenomenon.

Pablo siempre defiende a su jefe porque sabe arrimarse al sol que más calienta

Pablo always defends his boss because he knows how to stay close to the warmest sun

Arrimarse al sol que más calienta means to stay close to people we can use for our own personal benefit.

Just as the lizard uses the sun to heat its blood and stay alive, people who arrimarse al sol que más calienta suck up to powerful people in order to reap some sort of benefit. In the example above, Pablo always agrees with his boss to stay in his good favor. This way, he’s positioning himself for a promotion or maybe a raise.

We hope that reading this post has given you an extra dose of vitamin D. If you’re craving more, we encourage you to watch the following video we’ve prepared for you. Click play to learn more interesting expressions with the word sol.

The Sun is just a small star living in one of many galaxies. In the context of the whole universe, it’s an insignificant pinprick. Nevertheless, for us it is essential. This celestial body marks the rhythm of life on Earth.

Today, the calendars of almost every culture are determined by the Earth’s movement around the Sun, dividing the year into 365 days. Long ago, sundials or shadow clocks were very popular instruments used to split the day into more precise blocks of time.

Clearly, we can’t ignore the fundamental role the sun plays in how we organize our work day. This quality is precisely what today’s Spanish expression, trabajar de sol a sol,  is all about. Continue reading in English to find out the meaning of this saying or click here to read about it in Spanish.

Everyone knows that the early bird catches the worm — or, as the common Spanish expression says, a quien madruga, Dios le ayuda (God helps those who get up early). Back before people had electricity, the sun was practically the only source of light available. That’s why workers made the most of the hours of natural light to get their work done.

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression de sol a sol. In English we have a similar expression, from sunup to sundown. This saying is usually associated with work and it means “all day long” or “a long time.” Let’s see an example:

Juan trabaja de sol a sol para dar de comer a sus hijos.

Juan works from sun to sun to feed his children.

This sentence informs us that Juan works tirelessly from sunrise to sunset. Now, if Juan spent los lunes al sol, that would be a different story. This saying, which became popular thanks to a Spanish movie by director Fernando León de Aranoa, means just the opposite: to be unemployed, or not working. In that type of situation, spending a few months volunteering is always a good option.

Luis Tosar and Javier Bardem in Los lunes al sol

Los lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun) is a movie from 2002 starring Luis Tosar and Javier Bardem. It tells the story of the mass layoffs that took place in the Spanish port city of Vigo. The movie earned five Goyas, Spain’s most important film awards.

So now you know, if you don’t want to spend los lunes al sol, you’d better get to work de sol a sol. And if you still have time to discover more expressions like these ones, we invite you to watch the following video:

Our solar system’s reigning star is a fiery source of energy for the Earth and its inhabitants, who are all alive directly or indirectly thanks to its power. The Sun is so important that throughout history, it has been worshipped as a god in many cultures, given rise to enormous forests, and returned animals to life after months of hibernation each winter. 

In addition to all this, the Sun has been an inspiration for popular sayings in all the world’s languages. Spanish, of course, is one of them. Today we’ll learn what it means to be a sun, or ser un sol. Keep reading in English or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post.

Both literally and figuratively, our world revolves around the Sun. Everything depends on it, from the food we eat to the tan we spend all summer working on. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that the expression ser un sol is used to describe good things, like kindness.

La vecina de arriba me ayudó a subir las bolsas de la compra por la escalera. ¡Es un sol!

My upstairs neighbor helped me carry the shopping bags up the stairs. She is a sun!

This expression is also used to describe people who brighten up our lives and make us happy. Here’s a romantic compliment to add to your list of Spanish love quotes:

Eres el sol que ilumina mis días.

You are the sun that illuminates my days.

And since we’re on the topic, let’s learn something about Spanish culture. Did you know that Spaniards enjoy more than 10 hours of sunshine a day during the summertime? This makes our destinations in Spain the ideal place to attend an unforgettable summer camp with lots of outdoor activities.

If you liked learning today’s Spanish expression, you’ll love watching this video. We’ve compiled all sorts of sayings with sol to help you speak Spanish more fluently.

Why tell a friend they look nervous when you can say they’re like flan (estás como un flan)? Isn’t it much more fun to talk about someone who has bad milk (tiene mala leche) instead of calling them grumpy or bad-tempered? One of the most wonderful things about Spanish is the rich variety of expressions you can use to describe reality in a whole new way.

Food provides an endless supply of sayings and expressions we can use to talk about feelings and emotions. One colorful example is ponerse como un tomate, which is about feeling embarrassed. Today, we’re going to see how food can be used to illustrate nervousness and anger. Keep reading in English or click here to switch to Spanish.

Flan is one of the most typical foods in Spain and Latin America when it comes to dessert. It’s made with eggs, milk, and sugar and is known for its light texture. In addition to its natural ability to please every palate, flan is also useful when you want to describe someone who is nervous. For example, people are usually como un flan before a big test.

The origin of this expression is purely visual. When a person is nervous, their body starts to tremble. Flan’s very light texture causes it to shake with the smallest movement. Thus, getting nervous is analogous to ponerse como un flan.

One of the ingredients found in flan is just what we need for our next topic. This common Spanish expression comes in very handy when you want to talk about people who are easily irritated or annoyed: tener mala leche.

Long ago, people believed that the milk a baby drank would influence their personality when they grew up. By this logic, a baby who drank bad quality milk would be more likely to become a difficult person.

Continuing with the previous example, you’ll probably be de mala leche if you failed an exam even after you studied hard for it. In other words, you’d be mad!

If you’re still feeling hungry, we recommend you watch the following video. You’ll find lots of other expressions with food to help you win your way to your Spanish friends’ hearts through their stomachs. ¡Que aproveche! (Bon appétit!)

Looking for a fun way to learn Spanish or improve the level you already have? Want to boost your oral comprehension and learn something new about Spanish and Latin American culture at the same time? Fantastic! Watching movies is one of the best strategies to achieve all that.

Today, we bring you a list of the top 10 films shot in Spanish to improve your language skills as you enjoy original versions. To help you choose the one that best fits your needs, we have sorted them into three categories according to your Spanish level. Keep on reading in English or change to the Spanish version of this post here. Action!

Basic level (A1 – A2)

These movies are the ones that can help you out the most. Actors speak at a slow pace and their vocabulary is simple most of the time, even though there are always some tough words that even native Spanish speakers might have a hard time understanding. Don’t give up! If you want, you can also use subtitles so you don’t get too lost. With these movies, you will be working present and past simple tenses.

Perdiendo el norte (Off Course) – a comedy about two friends tired of not being able to find a job in Spain. They move to Germany to pursue a better life, but things don’t come that easy.

El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) – a fantasy story set in the time of the Spanish Civil War. A girl discovers a labyrinth guarded by a faun, who leads her to a great revelation.

Los ojos de Julia (Julia’s Eyes) – a psychological thriller in which Julia tries to discover the reason her sister committed suicide. In the meantime, she has to fight to not go blind.

Intermediate level (B1 – B2)

If you have been learning Spanish for a while now and you have an intermediate level, we highly recommend you check out at one (or all) of these movies. They all present more complex plots and a wider range of vocabulary. Take on the challenge and click play!

Ocho apellidos vascos (Spanish Affair) – an extremely funny comedy that will allow you to hear different Spanish accents, from Andalusian to Basque.

Roma (Roma) – this masterpiece of and black-and-white cinematography will give you a better understanding of what Mexico was like in the 1970s. In addition to Spanish, you’ll hear some Mixtec, a native Mexican language.

REC 1, 2 y 3 (REC 1, 2, and 3) – if you like horror and suspense, these are the films for you. You’ll have an incredibly up-close look at a terrifying quarantine. Try not to close your eyes!

Advanced level (C1 – C2)

If you’ve made it this far, your Spanish level will allow you to enjoy the best of cinema, or the “seventh art,” as it’s known in Spanish. So get comfortable, make some popcorn, and turn off the lights.

Celda 211 (Cell 211) – Juan, a prison guard, finds himself in a riot inside the prison where he works. He decides to join without knowing what will happen.

La isla mínima (Marshland) – two girls mysteriously disappear. As the police try to solve the case, drugs and riots complicate everything.

El hijo de la novia (Son of the Bride) – a touching film in which a divorced man who’s focused on his job sees his life suddenly change.

That wraps up our list of movies to learn and improve your Spanish. Make sure to watch them all in the original version, but don’t be afraid to turn on the subtitles if you’re having a hard time keeping up. If you’d like to recommend more movies that have helped you increase your Spanish vocabulary, please write them in the comments section below.

Have you ever been called a chorizo? Is your favorite song said to be del año de la pera (from the pear’s year)? There are some things no one likes to hear, and these are two of them. Despite the fact that chorizo is one of  Spanish gastronomy’s treasures and ser la pera (being the pear) is a synonym for being great, these foods are often used to speak of negative things as well.

Today, we pick up our Spanish food expressions review and keep on learning with chorizos and pears. Continue reading to discover a couple of interesting expressions or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post. Let’s go!

Have you ever heard of Caló? It is a language derived from Romani which is spoken by the gypsy people. Caló has had quite some influence over Spanish, lending some words and expressions to its daily vocabulary. One of them is being a chorizo. Let’s have a look at an example:

La corrupción hace que muchos políticos se conviertan en unos chorizos.

(Corruption makes many politicians become chorizos).

In Spanish, ser un chorizo is a synonym for being a thief. The origin of this expression is linked to the Caló word chorar (steal). By analogy, being a chori has evolved into being a chorizo, in other words, a thief.

Leaving the world of sausages behind and entering the kingdom of fruits, we have another very interesting expression: ser del año de la pera. In Spanish, being from the pear’s year means being ancient or outdated. For example, if someone tells you that your favorite jacket es del año de la pera, they probably think it is old-fashioned.

However, if we dig deeper into the origin of this expression, we will discover that it has nothing to do with the delicious food we call pears, but with the most international Spanish book ever: Don Quixote.

Miguel de Cervantes included in this book a character called Roque Guinart. This bandit was inspired by a real person who was very popular in the 16^th century: Peret Roca Guinarda. This gangster's nickname was "The Pear." Over time, his name would come to be used as a synonym of antiquity.

Now that you know where these expressions come from, we don’t want you to stay hungry. We have prepared a video that explains the meaning and origin of many more Spanish expressions that have to do with food. Click here to watch it and improve your Spanish step by step!

One of the most valued cultural elements in Spain is its gastronomy. Spanish food is very popular due to some extent to the variety of fresh products available in every market of the country. From exotic fruits in the Canary Islands to vegetables in the Castilian fields and meat across the northern grasslands, you'll find tasty treats wherever you go.

The abundance of natural ingredients is such that food has plowed its way through even speech. If you pay attention to Spaniards as they speak, you will realize any small talk has plenty of expressions related to food. Importar un pimiento (to matter less than a pepper), comerse el coco (eating someone’s own coconut) or ponerse como un tomate (becoming like a tomato) are just some of the expressions you will hear in any ordinary conversation.

Would you like to discover what these sayings mean and the history behind their use? Keep on reading to learn more about them or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post. Enjoy!

Peppers can be roasted, stuffed, served as a side dish… they are so convenient, they can even be used to show how little you care about something or someone. Thus, when you matter less than a pepper to someone or le importas un pimiento, it is better to move on. But, where does this indifference towards peppers come from?

In the 17^th century, still lifes with fruits and vegetables became a visual trend. In their paintings, artists used to depict colorful foods with challenging shapes and textures to demonstrate their skills with the paintbrush. Due to their simple and modest appearance, peppers were not usually present in this kind of pictures. For this reason, the expression importar menos que un pimiento, meaning being completely irrelevant, became very popular.

These painters had to eat their own coconut (comerse el coco) to find the perfect composition. In other words, they had to put a lot of thought into it. Besides being a delicious tropical fruit, coconuts are also a Spanish metaphor to speak of our head. But overthinking problems never solves anything, so don’t eat your own coconut anymore. No te comas más el coco and keep on reading.

Have you ever felt so embarrassed your face turned red? If so, then you will perfectly understand what the next expression is about: ponerse como un tomate. Some people are shyer than others and can’t hide their blushing. And what is the most popular red food? Tomato, of course.

If you have enjoyed today’s menu, we invite you to play the video below. There, you will find many other Spanish expressions with foods that will impress you. Start speaking like a native!

There is a popular saying which claims that Spain is the orchard of Europe. Thanks to its climate conditions, this country produces a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout the year, which end up on the tables of its European neighbors. This might be the reason why there's a Spanish expression for practically every fruit.

One of them is the orange. Besides being a symbol of Valencia, it is also an essential ingredient in the Mediterranean diet. In addition, this citrus fruit is frequently mentioned in a very popular expression: ser la media naranja de alguien (being someone’s half orange). Click here to read this post in Spanish, or keep reading in English to discover the meaning of this expression.

Our "half orange" is the person who, according to oral tradition, completes us. In English, we sometimes call this person our better half. They have all the attributes we lack and, at the same time, we contribute some qualities they're missing. For this reason, you and your media naranja constitute the perfect couple, and together, you can share a happy life. Let’s have a look at an example:

Jorge ha encontrado al fin su media naranja. Está muy ilusionado con su nueva pareja.

(Jorge has finally found his better half. He is very excited about his new partner).

This expression finds its roots in Plato's The Symposium. In this text, the philosopher expresses Aristophanes’ thoughts on the origin of the human race. According to legend, people originally had four legs, four arms, and a head with two faces.

One day, these people dared to use their strength to go up to heaven and challenge the gods. As a punishment, Zeus decided to split each person in two and, this way, diminish their power without erasing them from the Earth. This is how every human being ended up divided into two bodies.

Nowadays, we use this expression in a positive way to describe the luck of finding the love of your life. However, Aristophanes’ myth did not have such a happy ending.

As the story goes, after splitting humans into two bodies, each person devoted their life to desperately find their missing half. If they were successful, the couple would rejoin in a hug that was never to be broken again. The half oranges didn't want to do anything without each other, and they died of starvation.

Now that Valentine’s Day is approaching, you might have the opportunity to practice this new Spanish expression you have just learned. Who knows, maybe you are about to find your half orange or better half. In the meantime, click on the video below to learn more expressions related to food and surprise your classmates with new vocabulary!