Idioms

What are idioms?

According to Dictionary.com, an idiom [id-ee-uhm] is:

noun

1. an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's head, or from the general grammatical rules of a language, as the table round for the round table, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics. 
2. a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people. 
3. a construction or expression of one language whose parts correspond to elements in another language but whose total structure or meaning is not matched in the same way in the second language. 
4. the peculiar character or genius of a language. 
5. a distinct style or character, in music, art, etc.: the idiom of Bach. 

Basically, idioms are the good ol’ sayings that you hear many times; in Spanish we know them as “refranes.”

Here is a list of some common Spanish idioms and their English equivalent.

Idioms
Spanish	English
A lo hecho, pecho	Don’t cry over spilled milk
¿Te crees que me chupo el dedo?	Do you think I was born yesterday?
Como aguja en un pajar	Like a needle in a hay stack
Pan comido	Piece of cake
Mas blanco que la leche	As White as a sheet
Colorín Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado	And they all lived happily ever after.
Correr como pólvora	Spread like wildfire
El fin justifica los medios	The end justifies the means
Poner los puntos sobre las íes	To set the record straight
De noche, todos los gatos son negros.	At night, all cats are black.
Cuando el rio suena es porque agua trae.	Where there’s smoke, there’s fire
Cara a cara	Head to head
En resumidas cuentas	To cut a long story short
Poner el grito en el cielo	To go through the roof
Harina de otro costal	A horse of a different color
Perro que ladra no muerde	His bark is worse than his bite
La prueba de fuego	Acid test
No es santo de mi devoción	He/she isn’t my cup of tea
Donde manda capitan, no manda marinero	What the boss says goes
Errar es de humanos, perdonar es divino	To err is human, to forgive is divine
Mal de muchos, Consuelo de todos	Two in distress makes sorrow less
No se oía ni una mosca	You could have Heard a pin drop
El que persevera alcanza	If at first you don’t succeed, try, and try again.
Esta lloviendo a cántaros	It’s raining cats and dogs
Cuesta un ojo de la cara	Cost an arm and a leg
Mas vale pájaro en mano que cien volando	A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

Can you name others in both languages?