One of the many reasons I enjoy watching Spanish language telenovelas is that they are full of "dichos" i.e. proverbs. In April I posted a few of my favorites that I had written down thus far.
Now I am watching a new telenovela, Yo Amo a Juan Querendón, and the dialogue is practically ALL dichos and slang. Caray caray (my goodness!) but it's difficult to understand and translate. However here are some of the great dichos and phrases I have picked up so far:
Soy una tumba = I'm a tomb (My lips are sealed)
Toma chango tu banano = Monkey, take your banana (When the cat’s away the mouse will play) The dicho means something like if the fruit's available then the monkey's going to grab it.
Un clavo saca otro clavo = A new nail drives out the other (There are other fish in the sea)
Que desayunamos alacranes? = Did we breakfast with scorpions? (Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?)
Me importa un pepino = It means as much as a cucumber to me (I couldn't care less)
Sin dinero no baila el perro = Without money the dog doesn’t dance (Nothing happens without money)
Es una mosquita muerta = He's a dead little fly (Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth)
Estar en el ajo = To be in the garlic (To be in the know)
Agarré con las manos en la masa = Caught with one's hands in the tortilla dough (Caught with one's hands in the cookie jar)
Hacer la vista gorda = To make the fat eye (To turn a blind eye)
And my favorite:
Al quirófano y al matrimonio no hay que meterse sin anesthesia = You can enter neither the operating room nor matrimony without anesthesia.
Dichos aren't the only draw to this telenovela. There is also the hero, Juan Dominguez, played by Eduardo Santamarina: Yes, he has a mullet and the fashion police should put him in jail, but dang he's cute!
(If you speak only English but enjoy watching telenovelas you can visit the blog site Caray, Caray and read English recaps of some of the most popular telenovelas.)
