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EXPRESIONES CON ALIMENTOS - Parte 2/2. Interesante artículo que presenta 19 expresiones idiomáticas basadas en palabras de alimentos (panificación y repostería). Para tu comodidad hemos intercalado vocabulario bilingüe a lo largo del texto.
Pulsa la palabra "AUDIO" para escuchar. Para descargar acerca la flecha del ratón a "AUDIO" y con
botón derecho selecciona la opción "Guardar Archivo (o Destino) Como" y guarda el archivo en tu computadora. |
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FOOD EXPRESSIONS - Part 2/2 |
AUDIO |
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Now, the VOA Special English
program "Words and their stories". We received a list of
expressions about food from Elenir Scardueli, a listener from
Brazil. |
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Today we will talk about some
good things to eat. If something is new and improved, we say it
is the best
thing since sliced bread. In the past, bread was
only sold in loaves in baked goods stores. Today, American
supermarkets sell sliced bread in plastic bags. Many people
thought this was easier because you did not have to cut the
bread yourself. The person who makes the most money in a family
is called the
breadwinner. |
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the best thing since sliced bread: sliced bread (pan en rebanadas) was first sold in 1928 and it was advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped." This led to the popular phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread"; breadwinner: sostén económico de la familia; |
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Bread and butter
issues are those that are most important to Americans
and affect them directly – like jobs and health care. |
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bread and butter issues: los problemas esenciales para el sustento, el pan de cada día; |
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Half a loaf is better
than none means that getting part of what you want is
better than getting nothing at all. If
you know which
side your bread is buttered on, then you know what your
best interests are and will act to protect them. |
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half a loaf is better than none: más vale tarde que nunca, mejor pájaro en mano que cien volando; you know which side your bread is buttered on: cada uno sabe qué cosa le conviene y qué cosa no; |
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Many Americans like their
bread toasted. Toast is cooked with dry heat until it starts to
turn brown. But you are in big trouble if someone tells you
you’re toast. |
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you're toast: estar en problemas; |
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If you say something is
a piece of cake, it means
something is really easy, like a test you take in school. Cakes
are often covered with a sweet topping, called icing.
Icing on the cake means something good that happens in
addition to another good thing. Another expression says
you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. This means
you cannot have everything your way, especially if two wishes
oppose each other. |
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a piece of cake: pan comido, juego de niños; icing on the cake: el incentivo, el toque final, la guinda del postre; you can’t have your cake and eat it, too: quererlo todo, querer el oro y el moro; |
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Hotcakes are also called
pancakes. They contain flour, eggs, milk and baking powder. You
cook them in a frying pan and eat them with fruit or a sweet
topping. If a new product is popular and selling well, you might
say it is selling like hotcakes. |
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baking powder: polvo de hornear; frying pan: sartén; sweet
topping: ingrediente dulce adicional; selling like hotcakes: vendiéndose como pan caliente (rápidamente); |
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But if a friend of yours did
something bad, you might stop being friends with him immediately
or drop him like a hotcake. |
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drop him like a hotcake: lo rechazas como un panqueque caliente; |
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Flat as a pancake
describes something that is, well, really flat. |
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flat as a pancake: completamente plano; |
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A tough cookie
is not something you want to eat. It is a person who is
difficult to deal with, and would do anything necessary to get
what he or she wants. This person could be a sharp
cookie or someone who is not easily fooled. Very often
things do not go the way we planned. Instead of getting angry or
sad, you might just accept it and say that’s the way the
cookie crumbles. |
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a tough cookie: persona fuerte que no se deja manipular;
a sharp cookie: persona astuta; that's the way the cookie
crumbles: así es la vida, así son las cosas; |
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Many pies are also good to
eat. If something is easy to do, you could say it is
easy as pie. But if you do something wrong or bad, you
might have to apologize and show you are sorry. In other words,
you might have to
eat humble pie. |
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easy as pie: muy fácil de hacer; to eat humble pie: retractarse, pedir disculpas; |
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If you have an idea or plan
that is not really possible, someone might say it is
pie
in the sky. If something is really easy to do, you
might say it is like
taking candy from a baby.
But that would not be a very nice thing to do! |
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pie in the sky: castillos en el aire (promesa vacía); taking candy from a baby: arrebatarle un dulce a un niño. |
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This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus. |
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