After a few days back in Madrid, I’m full of Spanish phrases. Coming back to the city where I lived the past four years (see related post here) for a weeklong visit has been a great reminder of all the things I love about the Spanish language. Below is a quick, Monday list of fun Spanish expressions to get the week off to a good start.
Three Fun Spanish Phrases
-1- Votar en blanco. This is not really an expression so much as an action that I find endlessly fascinating. In Spain (and some countries in South America) during an election you can ‘cast a blank vote’, which basically means you dislike all the candidates so much that you’re not willing to support any of them. Since a candidate or a alliance needs majority support to win, if enough people votar en blanco, the election committee needs to go back to the drawing board and re-form alliances. The system falls apart a little sometimes because it can take ages to get a functioning government in place, but at least you don’t run into that pesky ‘I hate the candidates so I’m not going to vote’ problem.
-2- Dar la vuelta a la tortilla. Have you ever seen a Spaniard flip a pan full of tortilla? (related post here) This is the phrase you use to describe that action, but it is also how Spanish people describe an action that makes a major change in their lives. Spanish people LOVE food expressions. There are also a tremendous amount of expressions having to do with milk, which you can check out here
-3- Eres mi media naranja. Literally translated, this means ‘you are my half orange.’ Spanish people use it to say ‘you are my soulmate’. How freaking cute is that?! (See above point regarding food expressions.)
Well–that should cover anything that might happen to you this week. And if you need more phrases, just check out the milk expressions. ¡Espero que la semana vaya a toda leche!
Happy Monday! Picture of Madrid below to celebrate.
Banner Photo Credit: 1983 (steal my _ _ art)