Month: May 2010

No todo lo que brilla es oro

Significa: Algo (o una situación) puede parecer perfecto y bonito pero esa perfección es sólo apariencia y la realidad podría ser distinta y no tan bonita.

In Spain they say “No es oro todo lo que reluce.”

Vocabulary

todo = all
el oro = gold
brillar = to shine/glitter/sparkle
relucir = brillar

The English version of this is: “No all that glitters is gold.”

Means: Some things are not what they appear to be. Something may appear perfect and beautiful but that perfection is only appearance and the reality may be different and not so beautiful.

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De tal palo, tal astilla

Significa: El hijo es igual que el padre (similitud entre padres e hijos relacionando su herencia genética). Cuando alguien es similar/semejante a otra persona por sus condiciones generales.

Ejemplo:

• Lo encarcelaron igual como su padre cuando joven. “De tal palo tal astilla”
• A Carlos le gustan las fiestas tanto como a su padre. “De tal palo tal astilla”

el palo (= stick)
la astilla (= splinter/chip)

Loosely translated the refrán (saying) means “As the wood, so the chips.”

Meaning: when a son (or daughter) behaves/looks/does something similar to his father (or mother)

Using this metaphor you can think of the parent as the stick and the child as the splinter/chip. The astilla will have the same characteristics (such as grain, texture, solidity) as the palo (wood) it came from so the child will also have the same characteristics as the parent(s) he/she came from.

This is similar to the English saying:

• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• Like father, like son.

¿Eres como tus padres?

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