Spanish Sayings

Acquiring a language is not only about studying grammar and learning vocabulary by heart. It's much more than that. If you really want to understand a language, you must get acquainted with the culture of the people who speak it.

Let's start with learning sayings. In fact, sayings —a term used to describe any current or habitual expression of wisdom or truth— are a dime a dozen^[1].

There are different kinds of sayings. Proverbs —sayings that are well known and often repeated, usually expressing metaphorically a truth based on common sense or practical experience—are just as plentiful.

In Spanish they are known as dichos, refranes and proverbios. And these are the ones we're going to learn now. A usual start —but not required— is "Como dice el dicho..." (As the saying goes...).

There are also sayings which are just idiomatic expressions and don't qualify as proverbs. We'll be learning them as well.

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¹ A dime a dozen: very common and of no particular value