What a very interesting article! There are two expressions which I use often in English - 'strong as an ox' and 'to take the bull by the horns' - both direct translations. My favourites from the article don't, as far as I know, have English equivalents: 'dar gato por liebre', which presumably refers to hare being more delicious but also more expensive, than cat, and 'pagar el pato'. (I've just looked up 'cat' in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and found that 'a pig in a poke' (sack) refers to putting a cat in a sack and pretending that it's a pig! Very much the same! As for the duck one, there are many expressions but none quite like 'pagar el pato'!)

I will definitely try and learn a few of these. Thank you, Christian!

Hi Martín! 

Thanks a lot for your comment. You are right about that. Spanish can be quite different depending on the country and area. However, as you say, most of these expressions can be understood by any Spanish native language.

I wish I could be able to write an article explaining these fixed expressions in each country but I think that the articule would be almost endless.

However, I encourage you (if you want, of course) to add fixed expressions related to animals that are used in Mexico. I think it could a great way to realize about the differences and it would be very appreciated by the italki community.

¡Un abrazo desde España!

Christian

Nice post Christian, I just want to make an statement about this article... I'm Mexican and I think most of Mexicans would understand this phrases (we share a lot of history, of course), but they don't always have the same meaning! For example "ser muy rata" would mean a person who steals a lot... You don't need to rob a bank to be "un(a) rata", but still, I think the point is very clear! I just want people to know there are some differences between the Spanish (from Spain) and the Mexican Spanish, or the argentinian Spanish, or the colombian Spanish... and a really long etc.

Spanish is a really beautiful language and it is so rich because it has been adopted by different nations which have different coloquial expressions, so be aware which "kind" of spanish slang you'd like to learn, because if you go to Chile, they might not understand you if you say slang from Barcelona!

¡Mis mas cordiales saludos desde México!

Martín.

Thanks a lot, Philippa!

I think that it's a very interesting thing to realize how some languages share so many things. It's new for me that thing about the pig and the cat but it seems to be very similar to the Spanish version.

"Pagar el pato" is a so funny expression. What I like about these expression is the fact that they are quite shocking therefore they are easy to remember.

Just thinking about ideas for a new article...