20 Spanish Body Part Idioms and Their Meanings

Spanish keeps a surprising amount of its everyday meaning in the body. Someone blunt has "no hairs on their tongue", something expensive costs "an eye out of your face", and a person who messes up has "put their paw in it". Spanish body part idioms are among the most frequent expressions in the language, and they work almost everywhere Spanish is spoken, which makes them unusually good value to learn.

This guide covers 20 of them, grouped by the part of the body they use, with the literal translation, the real meaning, and an example for each.

Idioms With the Head, Hair and Face

1. No tener pelos en la lengua

Literally "to have no hairs on the tongue". It describes someone who says exactly what they think, without softening it.

Example: "Mi tía no tiene pelos en la lengua." ("My aunt says exactly what she thinks.")

2. Tomar el pelo

Literally "to take the hair". It means to tease someone or wind them up, the equivalent of "to pull someone's leg".

Example: "¿Me estás tomando el pelo?" ("Are you pulling my leg?")

3. Poner los pelos de punta

Literally "to put the hairs on end". It means to give someone the chills, from fear or from strong emotion.

Example: "Esa historia me pone los pelos de punta." ("That story gives me chills.")

4. Tener mucha cara

Literally "to have a lot of face". It means to be cheeky or shameless. The noun version, ser un caradura, describes the person.

Example: "Tiene mucha cara, llegó tarde y sin avisar." ("He has some nerve, he turned up late without a word.")

5. Dar la cara

Literally "to give the face". It means to face up to something, to take responsibility instead of hiding.

Example: "Se equivocó, pero dio la cara." ("He got it wrong, but he owned it.")

Idioms With the Eyes, Ears and Nose

6. Costar un ojo de la cara

Literally "to cost an eye from the face". It means to be extremely expensive, the equivalent of "to cost an arm and a leg". Costar un riñón, "to cost a kidney", means the same.

Example: "El alquiler cuesta un ojo de la cara." ("The rent costs a fortune.")

7. No pegar ojo

Literally "to not stick an eye". It means to not sleep a wink.

Example: "Anoche no pegué ojo." ("I did not sleep at all last night.")

8. Hacer oídos sordos

Literally "to make deaf ears". It means to ignore something deliberately, to turn a deaf ear.

Example: "Le avisamos, pero hizo oídos sordos." ("We warned him, but he ignored it.")

9. Tener la mosca detrás de la oreja

Literally "to have the fly behind the ear". It means to be suspicious, to sense that something is off.

Example: "Con esa excusa me quedó la mosca detrás de la oreja." ("That excuse left me suspicious.")

10. Estar hasta las narices

Literally "to be up to the noses". It means to be completely fed up.

Example: "Estoy hasta las narices de las reuniones." ("I am fed up with meetings.")

Idioms like these are hard to memorise as a flat list, because you need the situation that triggers them. Our collection of 100 expressions and proverbs from Latin America puts expressions like these in context, which is how they actually stick.

Idioms With the Hands and Arms

11. Echar una mano

Literally "to throw a hand". It means to help someone out.

Example: "¿Me echás una mano con esto?" ("Can you give me a hand with this?")

12. Poner la mano en el fuego

Literally "to put your hand in the fire". It means to vouch for someone completely, to stake your reputation on them.

Example: "Pongo la mano en el fuego por ella." ("I would vouch for her with my life.")

13. Írsele la mano

Literally "for the hand to get away from someone". It means to overdo it, usually with quantity or force.

Example: "Se me fue la mano con la sal." ("I went overboard with the salt.")

14. Tener mano izquierda

Literally "to have a left hand". It means to be tactful, to handle delicate people and situations well.

Example: "Para negociar hay que tener mano izquierda." ("Negotiating takes tact.")

15. Ser el brazo derecho

Literally "to be the right arm". It means to be someone's most trusted helper.

Example: "Es el brazo derecho del director." ("He is the director's right hand man.")

Idioms With the Feet, Legs and the Rest

16. Meter la pata

Literally "to put the paw in". It means to make a blunder, usually by saying the wrong thing.

Example: "Metí la pata preguntando por su ex." ("I put my foot in it asking about her ex.")

17. Levantarse con el pie izquierdo

Literally "to get up with the left foot". It means to start the day badly, the equivalent of getting out of bed on the wrong side.

Example: "Hoy me levanté con el pie izquierdo." ("I got out of bed on the wrong side today.")

18. Andar con pies de plomo

Literally "to walk with feet of lead". It means to proceed very carefully.

Example: "Con ese tema hay que andar con pies de plomo." ("You have to tread carefully with that subject.")

19. Hablar por los codos

Literally "to talk through the elbows". It describes someone who talks non stop.

Example: "Tu primo habla por los codos." ("Your cousin never stops talking.")

20. Ser uña y carne

Literally "to be fingernail and flesh". It describes two people who are inseparable.

Example: "Esos dos son uña y carne." ("Those two are joined at the hip.")

The Ones English Almost Shares, and the Ones It Does Not

Body part idioms are a good place to see how close and how far two languages can be at the same time, because both English and Spanish build meaning out of the same anatomy.

Some map across almost exactly. Echar una mano is "to lend a hand". Ser el brazo derecho is "to be someone's right hand". Hacer oídos sordos is "to turn a deaf ear". Poner los pelos de punta is "to make your hair stand on end". These are free: you already know them, you only need the Spanish words.

Others use the same body part for a different idea, and those are the traps. Tomar el pelo is about hair but means "to pull someone's leg". Costar un ojo de la cara costs an eye where English costs an arm and a leg. Meter la pata uses an animal's paw for a human blunder.

And a few have no English relative at all. Tener la mosca detrás de la oreja, with its fly behind the ear, and tener mano izquierda, where tact lives in your left hand, have to be learned as new images rather than translated. Those are the two that will make a native speaker look up when a learner uses them correctly.

How to Make These Stick

Body part idioms are the easiest family to learn, because the image is physical and you already carry the vocabulary. A few tips:

• Group them by body part, not alphabetically. Your memory will file no pegar ojo and costar un ojo de la cara together, and the shared word does half the work.
• Watch the ones that look like English but are not. Tomar el pelo is "pull someone's leg", not "take their hair", and translating it literally is how learners get blank looks.
• Start with the neutral ones. Echar una mano, meter la pata and hablar por los codos are safe in any conversation. Tener mucha cara is a judgement, so hear it a few times before you say it.

To keep building your idiom vocabulary, read our guide to 20 Spanish animal idioms, then 30 Latin American Spanish idioms you must know and idiomatic expressions in Spanish you need to master. For the same expressions in story form, the 100 expressions and proverbs from Latin America collection is the natural next step.