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EXPRESIONES REFERIDAS AL DINERO. Interesante artículo que presenta 26 expresiones idiomáticas basadas en la palabra MONEY o en lo que ésta expresa.
Pulsa la palabra "AUDIO" para escuchar. Para descargar acerca la flecha del ratón a "AUDIO" y con
botón derecho selecciona la opción "Guardar Archivo (o Destino) Como" y guarda el archivo en tu computadora. |
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Now, the VOA
Special English program "Words and their Stories". |
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I think
people everywhere dream about having lots of money. I know I do. I would give
anything to make money hand
over fist. I would like to earn large amounts of money. You
could win a large amount of money in the United States through
lotteries.
People pay money for tickets with numbers. If your combination of numbers is
chosen, you win a huge amount of money – often in the millions. Winning the
lottery is a windfall. |
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make money hand over fist: hacer mucho dinero en poco tiempo; to earn: ganar (dinero); large amounts of: grandes cantidades de; you could: uno/a podría; lotteries: lotería, juegos de azar; is chosen: es elegida, sale sorteada; huge: enorme; in the millions: en el orden los los millones de dólares; winning: ganar; a windfall: un golpe de fortuna, una ganancia inesperada; |
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A few years
ago, my friend Al won the lottery. It changed his life. He did not have a rich
family. He was not born with
a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead, my friend was always
hard up
for cash. He did not have much money. And the money he did earn was
chicken feed – very
little. |
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born with a silver spoon in his mouth: nacido con una cuchara de oro en la boca (o "en cuna de oro"); instead: en cambio; hard up: en estado de pobreza, sin dinero, sin blanca; he did earn: que realmente ganaba; chicken feed: insignificante (alimento para las gallinas); |
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Sometimes Al
even had to accept hand-outs,
gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My
friend was not a deadbeat.
He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed. He
simply pinched pennies.
He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact, he was
often a cheapskate.
He did not like to spend money. The worst times were when he was
flat broke
and had no money at all. |
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hand-outs: dádivas, limosnas, algo de dinero prestado; do not get me wrong: no me malinterpreten; deadbeat: aprovechado, gorrón, caradura; paid: pagaba; he owed: que él debía; pinched pennies: cuidaba el dinero; he spent: que él gastaba; cheapskate: tacaño, avaro, agarrado; the worst times: los peores momentos; flat broke: sin un centavo, sin un duro; at all: en absoluto; |
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One day, Al
scraped together
a few dollars for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never
strike it rich
or gain lots of money unexpectedly. But his combination of numbers was chosen
and he won the lottery. He
hit the jackpot. He won a great deal of money.
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scraped together: juntó a duras penas, logró ahorrar; lottery ticket: billete de lotería; strike it rich: hacerse rico; gain lots of: conseguir parvas de; unexpectedly: de buenas a primeras; he hit the jackpot: acertó el gordo, se hizo rico; a great deal of: una gran cantidad de; |
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Al was so
excited. The first thing he did was buy a costly new car. He
splurged on the one
thing that he normally would not buy. Then he started spending money on
unnecessary things. He started to waste it. It was like he had
money to burn. He had
more money than he needed and it was
burning a hole in his pocket
so he spent it quickly. |
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excited: emocionado; costly: costoso; splurged on: se dio el lujo de; would not buy: no compraría; spending money on: gastar dinero en; to waste it: a derrocharlo; money to burn: exceso de dinero; it was burning a hole in his pocket: le quemaba las manos (literalmente, el bolsillo); |
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When we got
together for a meal at a restaurant, Al paid every time. He would always
foot the bill,
and pick up the tab.
He told me the money made him
feel like a million dollars.
He was very happy. |
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when we got together for: cuando nos juntábamos para; paid: pagaba; foot the bill: hacerse cargo de la cuenta; pick up the tab: correr con los gastos; made him feel like a million dollars: lo hacia sentirse millonario, sentirse extraordinariamente; |
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But, Al
spent too much money. Soon my friend was
down and out again.
He had no money left. He was back to being
strapped for cash. He
had spent his bottom dollar,
his very last amount. He did not even build up a
nest egg. He had not
saved any of the money. |
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too much: demasiado; down and out: empobrecido, arruinado; he had no money left: ya no le quedaba dinero; he was back to: volvió a; being strapped for cash: andar falto de dinero; had spent: había gastado; bottom dollar: su último dólar; he did not even: él ni siquiera; build up a nest egg: ahorrar algo de dinero; |
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I admit I do
feel sorry for my friend. He had enough money to live like a king. Instead, he
is back to living on a
shoestring – a very low budget. Some might say he is
penny wise and pound foolish.
He was wise about small things, but not about important things. |
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I do feel sorry for: siento sincera pena por; like a king: como un rey; instead: en cambio; live on a shoestring: vivir con lo mínimo; very low budget: bajísimo presupuesto; some might say: algunos podrían decir que; penny wise and pound foolish: inteligente para las cosas pequeñas y muy tonto para las grandes. |
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"Words and their Stories" in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus. |
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