21 febrero 2022
Ana del Río
Expressions about work in Spanish
Let's start with the first group of expressions, which refers to those that mean to work hard:
1. Trabajar de sol a sol
The first expression is not difficult to understand. In English it can be translated as from sunrise to sunset or from dawn to dusk and it means working long hours.
- Cuando mi abuelo era joven, trabajaba de sol a sol en el campo.
2. Trabajar como un burro
The literal traslation is to work like a donkey. Traditionally, the donkey was the animal used to carry heavy loads. The expression derives from this hard work.
- Esta semana hemos trabajado como burros para entregar el proyecto a tiempo.
3. Dar el callo
Callo, from the Latin callus, is a mass of meat that has hardened by continuous rubbing or pressure, especially on the hands and feet. As peasants and workers and, in general, anyone who does repetitive manual work, often get calluses from the repeated use of their tools, calluses are assimilated to work. The more work and the harder, the more calluses.
- La empresa ha decidido ascenderte gracias a haber dado el callo durante los últimos meses tan difíciles por los que hemos pasado.
4. Partirse el lomo
The loin is the back of the animal, so we can understand that Splitting the loin -to break your back-, means working with a lot of effort, until exhaustion, trying harder than the body resists. In English, there is a similar expression to break your neck.
- Mi madre se partió el lomo, trabajando día y noche, para sacarnos adelante.
5. Trabajar a destajo
Originally, it referred to a fixed payment for a given job, without taking into account the time spent. This means that you are not paid for the hours used, but for the final product, and can be very disadvantageous. Nowadays, in Spain it refers to working hard and very fast.
- Cuando empiezas una empresa tienes que trabajar a destajo.
6. Trabajar como un negro
In recent years, the removal of this expression from the dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (RAE) has been claimed, as it is considered racist. There is even a version of this expression that continues “Work like a black to live like a white”. As Spanish teachers, we know that words create realities, and that the more they are repeated, the more real they become. For this reason, although it is advisable to show these types of expressions to our students, and you students should know them, it is the responsibility of each one to understand that their use contributes to perpetuating discrimination.
- Joe, llevo trabajando como un negro todo el día.
- Perdona, siento que estés cansado pero esa expresión es muy ofensiva. ¿Te importa no usarla delante de mí? Gracias
- ¡Ah! Perdona, no lo sabía. Claro, ahora lo entiendo perfectamente.
Follow us in Facebook and Instagram to learn this and much more!
Now, we are going to learn two expressions of similar origin and that mean teamwork:
7. Trabajar codo con codo
In this case we are lucky because in English there is an almost identical expression: to work elbow to elbow…
And in the same way, it means working as a team.
- Carlos y yo hemos trabajado codo con codo los últimos tres años para sacar adelante nuestro proyecto.
8. Arrimar el hombro
With a very similar origin to the previous one, both related to the field, arrimar el hombro can be literally translated as to approach the shoulder, and as you can imagine, it means to help, to help out or to lend a hand.
- Todos empleados arrimaron el hombro cuando vinieron los clientes.
In 2021, Ikea launched an advertising campaign, "Arrimar el hombro", in relation to the importance of helping each other in times of pandemic.
In Spanish, we also have expressions that mean to fire someone from work:
9. Poner de patitas en la calle
This expression alludes to the gesture of throwing a puppy out of a place, so that it falls on its legs. This expression already appears in the Vocabulary of sayings and proverbial phrases by Gonzalo Corras, in 1627.
10. Echar a la calle
A very similar expression is Echar a la calle, literally to throw someone to the street.
- Cuando empezó la pandemia nos pusieron de patitas en la calle.
- Si sigues así te van a acabar echando.
To finish, there are other five expressions related to the world of work, which are widely used:
11. Hacer un negocio redondo
The sense of perfection that the circular figure gives is not exclusive to business, but is also used in other contexts. Although, the expression hacer un negocio redondo, (to do a round business) is very common, which means that a very advantageous deal has been made.
- He vendido el coche y me han dado un descuento para comprar otro, ha sido un negocio redondo.
12. Tener enchufe
We have all come across a colleague who has a plug, which is the literal traslation of "tiene enchufe". It is about a well-connected person who gets a job because of those good connections, hence the reference to the plug or socket.
- ¿Cómo es posible que hayan ascendido a Pedro? ¡Pero si no sabe hacer su trabajo!
- Es que es el sobrino del dueño, ¿no lo sabías? Está enchufadísimo.
13. Por amor al arte
This expression refers to the one who performs a task without the objective of being paid for it, but for the pleasure he gets from doing it. We already know that being an artist is a very complicated job and that many times, unfortunately, no compensation is obtained. That is why it is very common to use it in the following way:
- Jefe, no he recibido el pago de las horas extras de febrero.
- ¿Horas extras? Aquí no existen las horas extras.
- ¿Cómo que no? ¿Se cree que trabajo por amor al arte?
14. Ponerse manos a la obra
This very common expression refers to starting to do a job, using the figure of using your hands to do the work in question.
- ¿Tenemos los planes claros? ¡Pues vamos a ponernos manos a la obra!
15. Cortar el bacalao
The origin of this expression, which is used to designate the person in charge in a given situation, dates back to the 16th century, when the consumption of salted cod began to become popular in Spain. The task of butchering the cod, cortar el bacalao, requires experience and knowledge, so the person in charge will be the boss.
- Nosotros no podemos tomar esa decisión, llama al Director de Ventas que es quien corta el bacalao en esta empresa.
Do you know any other expression related to work?
If you are a Spanish teacher and you want your students to learn how to talk about being late in Spanish, check out our lastest teaching material available in our shop:
You can also practise a job interview here!
Explore our shop to find many other teaching materials:
