While living in Mexico, I heard phrases whose literal translations created odd visual images for me and confused my developing bilingual brain. For example: “Me estás tomando el pelo!” (You are grabbing my hair!”). My initial bewildered response? I checked to see if my hands were minding their business at my side.

With further explanation, I soon understood that such strange phrases were proverbios y refranes (proverbs and sayings), wise and colorful ways to make a point. In this case: “You are pulling my leg.”

As I started collecting Spanish proverbs, something else began to appear. Oh, I saw that the essence of a proverb often translates from language to language even when the metaphors and imagery vary.

For me, someone who thinks visually, these proverbs were waiting to be translated into cartoonish illustrations that bring their wordplay to life.

1. Together is Always Better

Proverbs and sayings state a general truth and often offer advice metaphorically. Has anyone ever told you, “Two heads are better than one”?

How about the Spanish equivalent: “Cuatro ojos ven mas que dos” (“Four eyes see more than two”)? Whether there’s an extra head or more than two eyes, collaborating with others always helps to solve problems.

2. You Can’t Hide What’s Inside

Whether in Spanish or English, proverbs represent values people hold. They reflect shared experience and the wisdom that arises from it. For example, “Fine feathers don’t make fine birds” communicate that it’s not the elegant coat and shiny earrings that define a person, but rather what is underneath.

In Spanish, the feathers metaphor takes on a different form: Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda (“Although the monkey is dressed in silk, she remains a monkey”). The true nature and that fuzzy monkey tail cannot be hidden by silken decoration.

3. Pay Attention or Learn Your Lesson

Proverbs and sayings touch every aspect of life. “You snooze you lose,” said a man who quickly slipped into my parking spot. That jolted me into the present after being distracted by a pretty view. The proverb had it right with its warning not to hesitate and miss an opportunity.

Maybe the raft is incredibly comfortable, but this shrimp is about to learn the same lesson—in Spanish: “Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente” (“A sleeping shrimp gets carried away by the current”).

4. Beware of Musical Chairs

There are many English and Spanish proverbs with warnings about losing something you already have. In Spanish, “El que se fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla” (“He who left for the town of Sevilla, lost his seat.”) is a good reminder to pay attention.

Not all proverbs are a beautiful slice of wisdom. Sometimes they can be sarcastic, to the point, and biting. If someone took my seat and chanted, “Finders keepers, losers weepers,” I would most likely furrow my brow, cross my arms, and . . .

5. What Looks Nice Sometimes Bites

“Every rose has its thorn . . . every cowboy sings his sad, sad, song” is more than a couple of lines from an eighties song by the band Poison. “Every rose has its thorn” is also a famous proverb with advice on the nature of things—something that appears beautiful and perfect can have its sharp side.

When I asked my husband for an example of the proverb in Spanish, he came up with, “Hasta las abejas que tienen miel, tienen aguijón” (“Even bees with honey have stingers”). He smiled and elaborated in Spanglish, “You are sweet and cute, pero cuando te enojas, tienes aguijón” (but when you are angry, you have a stinger). Perfect, I wrote that one down.

As my pen marked the page, I wondered about the significance of a rose versus a bee. What might the choice say about the culture or the language?

If you have a bilingual brain, try out some bi-visual wordplay of your own. You may find yourself feliz como una lombriz (happy as a worm) when you think in Spanish and “happy as a clam” when your clever brain turns to English. And please share the bilingual proverbs you come up with in the Comments.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

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“Ouch! You’re pulling my leg!”
“\u00a1Ay!<\/em>\u00a0\u00a1Me<\/em> est\u00e1s tomando el pelo!”<\/em> (“Ouch! You’re grabbing my hair!”)
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n

Spanish and English Proverbs in Pictures<\/h2>\n
While living in Mexico, I heard phrases whose literal translations created odd visual images for me and confused my developing bilingual brain. For example: “Me est\u00e1s tomando el pelo!”\u00a0<\/em>(You are grabbing my hair!”). My initial bewildered response? I checked to see if my hands were minding their business at my side.<\/p>\n
With further explanation, I soon understood that such strange phrases were\u00a0proverbios y\u00a0refranes<\/em> (proverbs and sayings), wise and colorful ways to make a point. In this case: “You are pulling my leg.”<\/p>\n
As I started collecting Spanish proverbs, something else began to appear. \u00a0Oh, I saw<\/strong>\u00a0that the essence of a proverb often translates from language to language even when the metaphors and imagery vary.<\/p>\n
For me, someone who thinks visually, these proverbs were waiting to be translated into cartoonish illustrations that bring their wordplay to life.<\/p>\n
1. Together is Always Better<\/h4>\n
Proverbs and sayings state a general truth and often offer advice metaphorically. Has anyone ever told you, “Two heads are better than one”?<\/p>\n
$\"A$
There’s something different about this guy . . .
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
How about the Spanish equivalent:\u00a0“<\/em>Cuatro\u00a0ojos ven mas que dos”\u00a0<\/em>(“Four eyes see more than two”)? Whether there’s an extra head or more than two eyes, collaborating with others always helps to solve problems.<\/p>\n
2. You Can’t Hide What’s Inside<\/h4>\n
Whether in Spanish or English, proverbs represent values people hold. They reflect shared experience and the wisdom that arises from it. For example, “Fine feathers don’t make fine birds” communicate that\u00a0it’s not the elegant coat and shiny earrings that define a person, but rather what is underneath.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
What banana?
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
In Spanish, the feathers metaphor takes on a different form:\u00a0Aunque\u00a0la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda\u00a0<\/em>(“Although the monkey is dressed in silk, she remains a monkey”). The true nature and that fuzzy monkey tail cannot be hidden by silken decoration.<\/p>\n
3. Pay Attention or Learn Your Lesson<\/h4>\n
Proverbs and sayings touch every aspect of life. “You snooze you lose,” said a man who quickly slipped into\u00a0my<\/em> parking spot. That jolted me into the present after being distracted by a pretty view. The proverb had it right with its warning not to hesitate and miss an opportunity.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Zzzz..nothing to worry about…zzzz
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
Maybe the raft is incredibly comfortable, but this shrimp is about to learn the same lesson—in Spanish: “<\/em>Camar\u00f3n que se duerme\u00a0se lo lleva\u00a0la corriente”<\/em>\u00a0(“A sleeping shrimp gets carried away by the current”).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
4. Beware of Musical Chairs<\/h4>\n
There are many English and Spanish proverbs with warnings about losing something you already have. In Spanish, “<\/em>El que se fue a Sevilla, perdi\u00f3 su silla”<\/em>\u00a0(“He who left for the town of Sevilla, lost his seat.”) is a good reminder to pay attention.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
I was only gone ONE minute!
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
Not all proverbs are a beautiful slice of wisdom. Sometimes they can be sarcastic, to the point, and biting. If someone took my seat and chanted, \u00a0“Finders keepers, losers weepers,” I would most likely furrow my brow, cross my arms, and . . .<\/p>\n
5. What Looks Nice Sometimes Bites<\/h4>\n
“Every rose has its thorn . . . every cowboy sings his sad, sad, song”\u00a0is more than a couple of lines from an eighties song by the band Poison. “Every rose has its thorn” is also a famous proverb with advice on the nature of things—something that appears beautiful and perfect can have its sharp side.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
And I thought you smelled nice!
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
When I asked my husband for an example of the proverb in Spanish,\u00a0<\/em>he came up with, “Hasta las abejas que tienen miel, tienen\u00a0aguij\u00f3n”<\/em> (“Even bees with honey have stingers”). He smiled and elaborated in Spanglish, “You are sweet and cute,\u00a0pero cuando\u00a0te\u00a0enojas, tienes aguij\u00f3n”<\/em> (but when you are angry, you have a stinger). Perfect, I wrote that one down.<\/p>\n
As my pen marked the page, I wondered about the significance of a rose versus a bee. What might the choice say about the culture or the language?<\/p>\n
If you have a bilingual brain, try out some bi-visual <\/em>wordplay of your own.\u00a0You may find yourself feliz como una\u00a0lombriz<\/em>\u00a0(happy as a worm) when you think in Spanish and “happy as a clam” when your clever brain turns to English. <\/em>And please share the bilingual proverbs you come up with in the Comments.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Nice maracas!
\u00a9 drawing by Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
Comment<\/a><\/i>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189,102,235,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bilingual-language","category-culture-language","category-proverbs-language","category-wordplay-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29322"}],"version-history":[{"count":88,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31756,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322\/revisions\/31756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}