English/Spanish Exchange

Easy-to-learn idioms (Part II)

Hi everybody! Let’s continue with our easy-to-remember idioms list. As I told you before, you probably know them in English, and their Spanish equivalents are literal (or rather similar) translations. Let’s go!

Contents
• A little bird told me
• Looking for a needle in a haystack
• The ends justify the means
• It’s a small world
• If it’s not one thing, it’s another

If it’s not one thing, it’s another

When many different things are going wrong in a short period of time people sometimes say “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!| In Spanish, we say “Si no es una cosa, es otra”. Example: “First the car broke down, and now I can’t find my keys! If it’s not one thing, it’s another!” –> “Primero el coche se descompone, ¡y ahora no puedo encontrar mis llaves… ¡Si no es una cosa, es otra!”

It’s a small world

When you find out someone you know knows someone else you know, you can say “It’s a small world”. The Spanish version goes “¡Qué pequeño es el mundo!”.

The ends justify the means

This means the actions (means) we take are considered acceptable because of the specific end results we want to achieve (ends). In Spanish, we say “El fin justifica los medios”. This saying is often used in the negative: “I understand the situation, but the ends do not justify the means.” –> “Entiendo la situación, pero el fin no justifica los medios”.

Looking for a needle in a haystack

A needle in a haystack is something that it is very difficult, if not impossible to find among everything around it. In Spanish we say “buscar una aguja en un pajar”.

A little bird told me

This expression is used to say that the speaker knows something but prefers to keep the identity of the informant a secret. In Spanish we say “Me lo dijo un pajarito”.