In this article, we will look at some more phrases in Spanish that use common words together in a set order to express different ideas figuratively.
In the following Spanish idioms with
Hay gato encerrado (I smell a rat)
Let’s start the idioms with
El dueño del restaurante es rico pero nunca tiene clientes. Aquí hay gato encerrado.
The owner of the restaurant is rich but he never has clients. I smell a rat here.
Hay gato encerrado. No trabaja, pero tiene un coche caro y lleva ropa de marca.
I smell a rat. She doesn’t work, yet she has an expensive car and wears designer clothing.
Buscarle tres pies al gato (to complicate matters)
Carlos tiene malas notas porque no estudia, pero insiste en culpar al profesor. Siempre le busca tres pies al gato.
Carlos gets bad grades because he doesn’t study, but he insists on blaming the teacher. He always complicates matters.
Es difícil elegir un restaurante para él, porque siempre le busca tres pies al gato: aquí es caro, eso está lejos, aquí no hay postre, allí no hay música…
It is hard to choose a restaurant for him, because he always complicates matters: it is expensive here, that is too far away, there is no dessert in here, there is no music over there…
Dar gato por liebre (to rip someone off)
One of the most popular Spanish idioms with
El dependiente me quiere dar gato por liebre, pero conozco la diferencia entre el oro y el plástico.
The salesman wants to rip me off, but I can tell the difference between gold and plastic.
A esos turistas les dieron gato por liebre. Estaban de vacaciones y no prestaron atención a los detalles.
Those tourists got ripped off. They were on vacation and they didn’t pay attention to details.
De noche todos los gatos son pardos (at night all cats are gray)
Unlike in other idioms with
La discoteca está llena de gente y todos parecen guapos. Está claro que de noche todos los gatos son pardos.
The night club is full of people and they all look handsome. It’s clear that at night all cats are gray.
No importa si esta noche llevas calcetines diferentes. Nadie es perfecto y, al fin y al cabo, de noche todos los gatos son pardos.
It does not matter if you go out tonight wearing mismatched socks. No one is perfect, and, in the end, at night all cats are gray.
Correr como gato por ascuas (to go like a bat out of hell)
Let’s finish the idioms with
Mi padre tiene miedo a las abejas. Cuando ve una, corre por la casa como gato por ascuas.
My father is afraid of bees. Whenever he sees one, he runs around the house like a bat out of hell.
Siempre corro por mi calle como gato por ascuas cuando el perro de mi vecina sale de su casa sin correa.
I always run up my street like a bat out of hell when my neighbor’s dog leaves her house unleashed.
Exercises
There are multiple set phrases with animals in Spanish. Today we have covered 5 idioms with