Have you ever wondered how to accurately ask someone to mind their own business, or how to describe someone whose head is always in the clouds? These idiomatic expressions are often the hardest part of a language because they don’t follow the rules that you’re used to. In order to understand these expressions you have to know the cultural context because a direct translation will often leave you even more confused.
There are only so many things that a Spanish book can teach you before you have to start learning the specificities of a language in order to keep advancing. Luckily, at Expanish we offer an extracurricular class on idiomatic expressions in order for our students to learn the specifics of Argentine Spanish. Join us on Thursdays at 2pm in order to learn the phrases that Argentinians use on a daily basis. Expanish helps their students learn more than just conjugations and vocabulario, we want to help our students learn the intricacies of Spanish in order to really start to feel like they’re learning more than just textbook Spanish.
There are so many typical phrases that we use in everyday language without even thinking about it. It’s hard to use those expressions in the same manner when you’re not used to the local slang or dialect. However, your Spanish can be taken to the next level with just a few phrases to add to your mental library. I’m constantly trying to sound more porteña, and this class really helped me learn a few key phrases that I won’t be likely to forget.
Here are a few examples:
- ¿Me estás tomando el pelo?
- Are you pulling my leg? (Are you kidding me?)
- Hacer la vista gorda
- To turn a blind eye (When something happens but you pretend that it never did)
- Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
- This is a variation on the classic: kill two birds with one stone (to accomplish two tasks at once)
- Entre la espada y la pared
- Stuck in between a rock and a hard place (There’s no one solution that is better than the other)
Do you know any more fun argentine expressions? Please share them in our comments below!
