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.

Salvarse por muy poco, quedar justo en el límite de lo aceptable. La aprobación mínima por milímetros.

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.