el simulacro = simulation, practice run, drill [as in “this is not a drill”], “mock” [as in “mock exam” or “mock trial”]
quedarse con los brazos cruzados = “to sit/stand around doing nothing”, “to twiddle one’s thumbs” [lit. “to stand/remain with arms crossed”; used in the sense of “to do nothing” or “to stand idly by”]
el legado = legacy / inheritance [what someone “bequeaths” in a will]
el legado, la legada = delegate, representative
atroz = awful, atrocious, heinous
sorprendente = surprising
sorprendentemente = surprisingly
el hada, las hadas = fairy, fairies
(el) Hada Madrina = Fairy Godmother
temerario/a = reckless, rash
la queja = complaint, protest
el descuido = carelessness / an oversight, a misunderstanding, a mistake made by not paying attention
la rata = rat
el ratón = mouse [both the animal or the computer mouse]
Ratoncito Pérez = the Tooth Fairy [it’s a mouse that takes the teeth in Spanish, but you will see hada de los dientes “Tooth Fairy” used for English stories]
el cuidado = care, attentiveness
¡Cuidado! = Watch out!, Look out!, Be careful! / Careful!
tener cuidado = to be careful, to take care (in doing something)
el caos = chaos / a mess
ser un caos = to be a mess / to be filthy, to be a pigsty, to be messy
sigiloso/a = sneaky, stealthy
sigilosamente = stealthily
el cristal = crystal / glass [the “glass” part of windows, glasses, clocks, display cases, binoculars, watches etc.]
el invitado, la invitada = guest, someone who was invited
el asesinato = murder / assassination
pillar = to catch [used in the sense of “to catch” someone in a game of tag, or “to apprehend”, or “to catch someone in the act / to catch someone red-handed” … it also means “to catch someone’s drift / to understand what someone’s saying”]
engatusar = to sweet-talk, to trick (with nice words/kindness), to beguile
mortal = deadly, lethal
el/la mortal = mortal, someone who will die some day, not immortal
caluroso/a = sweltering / someone sensitive to hot weather
friolento/a = someone sensitive to cold weather [regionally the word is friolero/a but same idea]
descarado/a = shameless, cheeky, insolent
divagar = to digress, to ramble, to talk on and on
la risa = laughter
la sonrisa = a smile
el pez gordo = bigwig, “big cheese”, important person, VIP [lit. “fat fish”]
el avispero = wasp’s nest / “hornet’s nest”, “trouble”
por doquier = “all over the place”, “every which way”, “right left and sideways” [a shortened form of por dondequiera which is something like “all over”, or “over wherever” literally]
hacer un simpa = “to dine and dash” [lit. simpa is a shortened form of sin pagar “without paying”, so it generally refers to eating out and not paying the bill]
a diferencia de = unlike, as opposed to, in/by contrast
ocultar = to hide, to conceal
el andén = platform (usually said of “train/subway platforms”)
el polvo = dust
estar hecho/a polvo = to be exhausted, to be wiped out, to be very tired [Spain; lit. “to be turned to dust”]
el topo = mole [both the animal and the sense of “spy”]
la frialdad = coldness, frigidity, lack of warmth / coldness, indifference
a quien corresponda = “to whom it concerns”
la centinela = sentinel, lookout, watchman/guard
volador(a) = flying, capable of flight
el OVNI [el objeto volador no identificado] = UFO [unidentified flying object]
el olvido = oblivion, obscurity
el soborno = bribe / bribery
cariñoso/a = affectionate, caring
sano/a y salvo/a = safe and sound [lit. “healthy and safe”]
(el) terreno pantanoso = “thin ice” [lit. “swampy ground”, used in the sense of a risky or thorny subject]
pisar terreno pantanoso = “to be on thin ice” [can also be used as a command or in subjunctive to give the meaning of “tread carefully” or “watch what you say”]
más a gusto que un arbusto / más agusto que un arbusto = “snug as a bug in a rug” [lit. “more comfortable than a shrub”, but it’s done for rhyme; sometimes it means something more like “very happy” or “right at home”]
colar = to strain, to sieve / to leak (information)
colarse = to seep through, to leak out / to crash (a party), to sneak in, to enter without an invitation
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