{"id":2069,"date":"2014-04-08T14:01:51","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T14:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2014-04-08T14:37:43","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T14:37:43","slug":"6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 500 or so years since Spain first began its conquest of Mexico, the Spanish language has developed into its own Mexican dialect. Influenced by Mexico's indigenous languages, the country's culture and the people's surroundings, the Spanish of Mexico may have its roots in Spain, but it has taken on a life of its own. Plenty of slang, colloquialisms, idioms and proverbs are unique to Mexico and many contain references to quintessentially Mexican things, such as local food or animals.<\/p>\n

1. Me cay\u00f3 el veinte.<\/h3>\n

This is a Mexican way of expressing that you've finally understood something. Literally it is to do with a 20 centavos coin (veinte) falling and comes from using these coins in payphones. In English we might say that \u201cthe penny dropped\u201d.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a1No manches!<\/h3>\n

\u00a1No manches! <\/i>Is used in Mexico to express disbelief, in the same way you might say \u201cNo way!\u201d, or maybe more recently \u201cShut. up.\u201d It literally translates to \u201cdon't stain\u201d, which doesn't really make a lot of sense.<\/p>\n

3. Ponte los huaraches antes de meterte en la huizachera<\/h3>\n

'Put on your sandals (huaraches<\/i>) before getting into a huizachera<\/i>'. Huaraches<\/i> are a type of simple sandal worn in Mexico. A huizachera<\/i> is a field covered with the huizache<\/i> plant, known in English as the acacia, which is very common all over Mexico. This phrase advises people to be well prepared before embarking on a difficult task.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by Rosa Menkman<\/p><\/div>\n

4. No porque me vean huaraches, piensen que soy guacalero<\/h3>\n

More huaraches<\/i>. A guacalero<\/i> is a man who works in a market, carrying boxes of fruit and vegetables, so this phrases translates as 'don't think I'm a guacalero<\/i> just because I'm wearing sandals'. It's like a Mexican version of 'don't judge a book by its cover', that says appearances can be misleading and you shouldn't make quick judgements.<\/p>\n

5. El comal le dijo a la olla, mira que tiznado est\u00e1s<\/h3>\n

This phrase is about being a hypocrite, like the English expression 'the pot calling the kettle black', but with Mexican cooking implements. A comal<\/i> is a thin metal disk used to heat tortillas and other food, while an olla<\/i> is...well, just a pot. The full phrase is 'the comal<\/i> said to the pot, look how sooty you are'.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by ProtoplasmaKid<\/p><\/div>\n

6. M\u00e1s vale atole con risas que chocolate con l\u00e1grimas<\/h3>\n

Atole <\/i>is a hot drink made from maize and other cheap ingredients, so m\u00e1s vale atole con risas que chocolate con l\u00e1grimas<\/i> translates as 'better atole<\/i> with laughter than cocoa with tears'. In other words, it's better to live a happy and humble life, than a rich and miserable one.<\/p>\n

If these Mexican idioms tickle your fancy, you could try our Spanish level test<\/a> \u2013 you might discover that you have a natural talent for the language. Do you know any more Spanish expressions specific to Mexico?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 500 or so years since Spain first began its conquest of Mexico, the Spanish language has developed into its own Mexican dialect. Influenced by Mexico’s indigenous languages, the country’s culture and the people’s surroundings, the Spanish of Mexico may have its roots in Spain, but it has taken on a life of its(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[142,260,37],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-must-know","tag-idioms","tag-mexico","tag-spanish"],"yoast_head":"\n6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-08T14:01:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-08T14:37:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"298\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Ellis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Ellis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/\",\"name\":\"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-08T14:01:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-08T14:37:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d\"},\"description\":\"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":298,\"caption\":\"Photo by ProtoplasmaKid\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d\",\"name\":\"Laura Ellis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura Ellis\"},\"description\":\"Laura is a lover of all things languages and wishes she were better at learning them. She lives in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, where she writes, sings and is trying to teach herself to play guitar.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/laura-ellis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn","description":"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn","og_description":"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-04-08T14:01:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-08T14:37:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":298,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura Ellis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Ellis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/","name":"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging - Listen & Learn","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-04-08T14:01:51+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-08T14:37:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d"},"description":"Want to sound like a local in Mexico in no time? Take a look at our 6 amazing Mexican idioms to get yourself started!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MexicoIdioms2-ProtoplasmaKid-e1396965847237.jpeg","width":450,"height":298,"caption":"Photo by ProtoplasmaKid"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-mexican-spanish-sayings-to-get-your-tongue-wagging\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"6 Mexican Spanish Sayings to Get Your Tongue Wagging"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d","name":"Laura Ellis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura Ellis"},"description":"Laura is a lover of all things languages and wishes she were better at learning them. She lives in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, where she writes, sings and is trying to teach herself to play guitar.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/laura-ellis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2075,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/2075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}