ABA Journal The digital English academy
Welcome back to our “Idioms of the World” series!
We’re almost at the end of our word tour of idioms. But not yet! Today takes us to Spain.
Idiom – Dar calabazas a alguien
Meaning – To reject somebody
English idiom – to turn someone down
As we’re sure you’ve guessed, “to give someone pumpkins” means to turn somebody down. It’s just one example of the colourful idioms you’ll find in Spain, and it originates from Ancient Greece, where pumpkins were considered an anti-aphrodisiac. Try eating one seductively, and you’ll probably see why.
Thanks Hotel Club, for sharing these images, and Marcus Oakly for creating them.
Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Cuba have lots of idioms that are more popular than the ones in Spain, at least to people living in the USA. Maybe you need an “Idioms of the World” series for Latin America. But I like the series a lot, specially the Australian idioms.