Expressions with food in Spanish are many in our language. Generally, the vocabulary that refers to the basic needs of the speakers is the most used in colloquial phrases. In the Spanishviaskype’s blog we have already talked about this kind of funny expressions; we even learned some phrases with the word ‘leche’. However, today we are going to focus exclusively on expressions with food in Spanish.

Expressions with Food in Spanish: Ser un chorizo

Chorizo is one of the most traditional and tasty sausages that we can taste in Spain. In our country it is made from minced pork meat and marinated with spices, mainly pimentón (similar to paprika), which gives it its characteristic red color.

However, although this food may be very popular, if a Spaniard calls you chorizo, he is really calling you a ‘thief’. But how did it come to acquire this meaning? The key lies in Caló, a variant of the Romani language spoken in Spain. In Caló, they say ‘chorar‘ for the verb ‘to steal’ and ‘chori‘ for ‘a thief’. Due to the phonetic similarity with our sausage, it ended up being used to designate those people who like to earn other people’s things.

La corrupción en mi país es vergonzosa; son todos unos chorizos.

 

Torrijas Are not Only Eaten at Easter

These days we are celebrating Easter in Spain. In addition to the religious processions, traditional sweets are very typical. Since we can’t travel much this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will settle for eating torrijas. These toasts, soaked in milk, are fried with oil and sweetened with honey, sugar and cinnamon.

Among the expressions with food in Spanish, if we say that llevamos una buena torrija, we want to indicate that we are tired, disoriented or almost asleep. The origin of this expression seems to be in the taverns of the seventeenth century, where it was customary to serve a glass of wine with each torrija that was ordered. Of course, after eating several of these sweets, customers were almost drunk.

Ten cuidado con el semáforo, que llevas una buena torrija.

Expressions with Food in Spanish: estar a la sopa boba

Can a soup be stupid? Soups are our favorite food for cold winter nights. But what does estar a la sopa boba mean? It seems that in the Middle Ages, great lords allowed bowls of soup to be served to beggars as charity at the gates of their castles. Apparently, the hungry ‘diners’ received the food with their mouths open, a characteristic gesture of a ‘bobo‘ (stupid person). Nowadays, someone who está a la sopa boba means that he does nothing to earn a living and lives supported by other people.

¡Venga, a estudiar! ¿Crees que vas a estar toda la vida a la sopa boba?

However, there are more expressions with food in Spanish, and especially with the word sopa. A person who se queda sopa, suddenly falls asleep. Likewise, if something or someone está hasta en la sopa, they are everywhere. Finally, if estás hecho una sopa is that you are soaked, probably because of the rain.

These expressions with food in Spanish are just some of the examples of phrases that you can learn in our conversation classes. In this course you will be able to put into practice all the colloquial expressions you know and learn the best strategies to speak Spanish naturally. Would you like to reserve a trial lesson beforehand? Of course, we will be happy to help you improve your Spanish level.