A SHOE FOR EVERY FOOT

 I am a people watcher. When I walk down the street or sit on a park bench, I often gaze at passers-by, especially couples who, to my eye, seem oddly mismatched. Then I reflect on how English and Spanish express the idea behind matchmaking and the mysterious ways in which people find their mates for life. We often wonder how those two coming down the path ever got together, let alone married. Mystery of mysteries.

A Spaniard might shrug and say, "Siempre hay un roto para un descosido," perhaps accompanied by a deep sigh. Or, "Dios los cría y ellos se juntan." In English, we may say that "there's a lid for every pot." Less commonly, "there's a shoe for every foot." My favorite, however, is "there's an ass for every saddle."

In my A Phraseological Dictionary, English-Spanish, I document these expressions with bona fide citations, lest some smart-aleck imagine that I have invented them.