Spanish Blog

We’re back with the second part of body idioms. This post will be totally dedicated to la cabeza (the head). Check it out!

1. ser la cabeza pensante – to be the brains. (Es la cabeza pensante de la banda. – He’s the brains of the band.)
2. tener la cabeza dura – to be stubborn, obstinate (Vaya cabeza dura que tiene ese hombre. – That man’s so stubborn.)
3. cabeza de turco – scapegoat (Buscaron un cabeza de turco para evitar que el escándalo afectara a todo el partido. – They looked for a scapegoat to avoid the whole party being affected by the scandal.)
4. en cabeza / a la cabeza – in the first place. (Nuestro equipo va en cabeza. – Our team is in first place.)
5. agachar / bajar / doblar la cabeza – 1. to lower one’s head, in sign of respect (Dobla la cabeza ante el rey. – Lower your head before the King.) 2. to lower one’s head, due to shame (Cuando descubrieron sus mentiras, bajó la cabeza. – When his lies were discovered, he lowered his head.)
6. apostar / jugarse la cabeza – used to indicate that one is certain about a particular outcome. (Me apuesto la cabeza que se marcha del bar sin pagar. – I bet my head he’s going to leave the bar without paying.)
7. calentar la cabeza – to worry about something. (Ya se arreglará, no te calientes más la cabeza. – It will be be all right, don’t worry about it.)
8. darse con la cabeza en la pared – to kick oneself, literally to bang one’s head against the wall.  (Por haber perdido esa oportunidad, ahora se da con la cabeza en la pared. – He’s kicking himself for losing that opportunity.)
9. de cabeza – 1. to be worried about something (Con la reforma de la casa andamos de cabeza. – We’ve been worried because of the remodeling of the house.) 2. headfirst, completely (Su mujer se metió de cabeza en el mundo de los negocios. – His wife got herself completely into the business world.)
10. escarmentar en cabeza ajena – to learn from somebody else’s mistakes (Aunque se lo advertí, nadie escarmienta en cabeza ajena. – Although I warned them, nobody learns from somebody else’s mistakes.)
11. írsele la cabeza – to feel dizzy (Mi abuela no puede bajar las escaleras mecánicas porque se le va la cabeza. – My grandma can’t climb down escalators because she gets dizzy.)
12. meter la cabeza – to get yourself hired (Metió la cabeza en el banco y ahora es director de la sucursal. – He managed to be hired in the bank and now he’s the branch manager.)
13. rodar cabezas – used to indicate that someone is going to be fired (En este departamento van a rodar cabezas. – People are going to get fired in this department.)
14. sentar la cabeza – to settle down (Cuando era joven me gustaba ir de juerga, pero después de casarme, senté la cabeza. – When I was young, I liked to party but after I got married I settled down.)
15. subírsele a la cabeza – 1. (of an alcoholic drink) to take effect (No bebas vino que se te sube a la cabeza. – Don’t drink wine, because it’s going right up your head.) 2. to become vain or snobbish (El dinero se le ha subido a la cabeza. – Money has gone up to his head.)

Nos vemos prontito.