THE IDEA OF SPEED IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH


 

There are more ways than one to skin a cat and more ways than one to express ideas, like speed, hurry, rush, dart, and dash, for instance. Phraseology is the spark of language and livens and gives it joy. As an example, I have chosen, in both English and Spanish, the following collection of idiomatic expressions:

A todo trapo (gas, tren, leche, volumen, marcha, pastilla, pitando, como una flecha [bala], a tope, que se mata, al galope) Full blast, top speed, full steam, all out, hell for leather, full throttle, pedal to the metal, at a gallop, balls to the wall, at breakneck speed, fast and furious, like a bat out of hell, firing all cylinders, at full tilt

Funcionamos a todo trapo veinticuatro horas al día We are working full blast twenty-four hours a day

“… sobre todo ahora que quiere recuperar a todo trapo la fortísima suma que desembolsó…” La Vanguardia, 02/01/1995. Esp. || “Todo era diferente, mi ley de prensa funcionaba a todo gas.” José Luis Gutiérrez, et al., La ambición del César, 1989. Esp. || “Por la puerta abierta entraba el siseo de la máquina lanzada a toda pastilla.” Clara Obligado, Salsa, 2002. Arg.

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