On Location Spanish – 12 Mar 2013

¡Buenas a todo el mundo! and welcome to Grace’s On Location Spanish Update. So it appears we find ourselves in March and wondering where the time has gone, ¿verdad? (“am I right?”) As I embark on the homestretch of my busy year here in Valencia, me queda un montón por aprender (“I still have a lot to learn”) and with a busy social calendar for the city in upcoming months, I hope to keep you posted with my news and pictures from the celebrations.

With student huelgas (“strikes”) aplenty and preparations for Las Fallas in place, there is an air of restlessness about campus as we muddle through to our Easter holidays. With that in mind I’d like to tell you about a phrase I’ve heard that nicely expresses that “fed up” feeling:

¡Estoy hasta las narices de todo!
I’m sick and tired of everything.

Having initially translated the phrase ‘hasta las narices de’ as “up to the noses of”, I was reminded of the English expression of “being up to your eyeballs in” something. Checking in with my friend Daniel, madrileño (“Madrilenean”) by birth but lovingly-adopted by the British Isles, he assured me that this was basically correct and that the expression serves pretty well in most contexts where someone is feeling a bit under pressure or overwhelmed.

I hope you all have nothing to be sick and tired of, but if that is the case, you can take some consolation in being able to say it in Spanish. If you’re joining me next time for more On Location Spanish then I hope to tell you a little more about Las Fallas. Until then ¡Hasta la próxima!

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