bil

Those are good.

I like 'Mas frio que setenta putas.'

agoreira

"más frío que el beso de suegra"

angiescarr

My best mistake

"Estas el ultimo en 'culo'" instead of cola..

Last in the arse...instead of "are you last in the queue?"

Other posters please translate your dichos + expressiones because I'm only catching half of them and I'm a bit of a 'dicho' collector!
We want to know more! Most people will probably not ask because we don't want to appear dense.

megmet

That's when...Translate...on the Google toolbar comes in handy!

steviedeluxe

I like "de tal palo, tal astilla" as it translates well to "a chip of the old block". Got a great book at home called "The big red book of Spanish Idioms" (Peter Weibel). Highly recommended.

agoreira

Nothing to do with "Lost in Translation" really, but for anyone that might be looking to improve their Spanish, this site started fairly recently, and is building slowly. No connections to the site, just one I read occassionally.
http://www.matthewbennett.es/forum/f...ish-newsletter

lynnxa

doesn't help much with slang & idioms though!

Treegod

Here in Catalonia the locals girls call each other "chocho", a bit like "girlfriend" I suppose.

Treegod

Today my girlfriend said to one of ours dogs "bete encíma de los cojines". The last word I misheard as something else (in cojines change the i for an o). I knew exactly what she meant, I just misheard. I always thought cojines sounded rude and now I know why.

And two recent assumptions..

One: The other day I asked "¿Hay libros en inglés?" and the shop assistant started explain of two different types. I thought she meant "nonfiction" and "fiction", but she actually meant "para aprender o leer".

Two: Talking the other day about horses (I was at some friends horse centre) and I missed part of the following conversation. Then I heard something about burial and I thought "They're talking about disposing of big animal corpses." Having had sheep I know that in Britain you have to bury sheep and cows etc. And Horses. And I said "En Inglaterra es ilegal" (to not bury dead animals). My girlfriend had a strange look on her face like what is he talking about? They weren't talking about horses they were talking about humans...

¡Pero claro!

snikpoh

or even "chip off the old block"

agoreira

She will have pronounced it "bete" but said "vete encima (no accent)" As in "vete a la mierda"

Treegod

Ah yes, "vete". I know the b-v thing but never saw vete written down. Thanks.

My girlfriend is often fond of saying "Mi cao en..." and doesn't finish of that sentence (somehow she makes the g silent). "I "poo" in..."

Ostía... as in ¡Ostía! or Esto es la ostía. Host? Holy Host? Just doesn't work in English unless Robin is talking to Batman (Holy Host Batman).

Some things that I don't think would work in Spanish:

Wicked! ¡Travieso!

You make one mean cup of tea. Haces un taza de té malo ( o ¿malo taza de té?).

agoreira

Vete is imperative of irse, you're politely suggesting someone goes away!

It'll be "ME cago en" from cagarse, literally "I sh1t myself on".
Ostía should be hostia, h is silent in Spanish, and no accent.

I bet you understand spoken Spanish better than me!

bil

Andalucians are very quick to dump consonants, very commonly the 'd' in past participles.

Hostia. A hostia is also a black eye/smack round the face.

Me cao = me cago en mi vida, I shit on my life, similar to 'hay que joderse' one has to **** oneself, ie things are so bad that that will be an improvement.

me suda la polla - very rude, 'I should give a shit?'

A female friend of ours was told by a young lad to 'quitarse los pelos del conyo' (that's supposed to be an enya, but I don't have an n with a wiggle on the top.) You could make the insult even worse by changing pelos to piojos (lice)

Treegod

I think I just heard on TV (Kiko Matamoros on Salvamé) "¡Tú, tu madre y un ladrillo!"

Is that good Spanish to be learning?