Argentina
All expressions
Argentina
All expressions
A crazy or eccentric person who does things out of the ordinary. Used playfully across Latin America and Spain to describe someone with wild ideas or unpredictable behavior. It is usually lighthearted, more like calling someone a weirdo or a nutcase than actually questioning their sanity.
To be extremely anxious or scared, holding your breath while waiting for something to turn out okay. The literal translation is "with Jesus in your mouth," as in you are silently praying and your heart is in your throat. It is used across all of Latin America and Spain when you are going through a nerve wracking moment, like turbulence on a flight, waiting for test results, or watching your team in a penalty shootout.
Someone who chokes under pressure, especially in sports. Literally "cold chest," it describes a player or person who lacks passion and disappears in clutch moments. In Argentine and Uruguayan football culture, calling someone a pecho frío is one of the harshest criticisms, it means they have no heart when it counts. It can also be used outside sports for anyone who does not step up when the stakes are high.
The front cover that protects the car engine in Argentina, Chile, and Spain. What you lift when something's wrong and suspicious smoke comes out, hoping it's nothing serious or expensive to fix.
To show your true colors, to reveal who you really are underneath the facade. Literally "to show the loose threads," like cheap clothing that falls apart and exposes what is underneath. It is used when someone drops their mask and their real intentions, flaws, or character come through. Common across Latin America, especially when someone who seemed trustworthy turns out to be shady or selfish.