http://ow.ly/jjTL1

Hello, everybody!

Today we are going to learn some expressions with the word madre (mother) in Spanish. Some of the are not very polite, but I think it’s very important for everyone to be able to recognize them – whether you use them or not it’s up to you.

Are you ready? Let’s do this!

01. Ciento y la madre = mucha o demasiada gente [a lot of people]

Éramos ciento y la madre en el curso del año pasado. [There were oddles of students in last year’s course.]
En aquel salón estábamos ciento y la madre. [There were lots of people in that room.]

02. De puta madre = (vulgar) muy bien [very well, very good]

Me lo he pasado de puta madre. [I had one hell of a good time.]
Las cosas me van de puta madre. [Things have been frickin’ good for me.]
Te encuentro de puta madre. [You look amazing!]
El tuyo es un trabajo de puta madre. [You have a great job!]

03. La madre del cordero = la clave o dificultad de una cosa [the hardest/key part of something]

La madre del cordero está en encontrar la manera de conseguir dinero para amueblar la casa. [The hardest thing is to find money to furnish the house.]
¡La madre del cordero! ¡Qué estatura tiene ese chaval! [Holy cow! Look how tall that boy is!]

04. ¡Madre mía! = se usa para expresar asombro o sorpresa [used to show that you’re surprised or astonished]

¡Madre mía! ¡Todavía son las doce y no se ha levantado! [Holy Mother of God! It’s already noon and he hasn’t gotten up yet!]

05. Nombrar / mentar a la madre = nombrar a la madre de otra persona para insultarla [to call somebody’s mother names to insult her]

Me mentó a la madre y le di un puñetazo. [He insulted my mother and I punched him in the face.]

06. Salirse de madre = 1. romper las normas [to break rules]; 2. ir más allá de lo permitido [to go beyond what’s permitted]

Cuando Pepe bebe se sale de madre y empieza a insultar a todos. [When Pepe drinks he gets carried away and starts insulting everybody.]
La manifestación se salió de madre y tuvo the intervenir la policía. [The demonstration got out of control and the police had to intervene.]

07. Valer madre = (vulgar) ser inútil [to be worthless]

Eso vale madre, no te lo compres. [This is worthless, don’t buy it.]
“¡Yo te amo!” “Me vale madre…” [“I love you!” “I don’t give a s…”!]

Want more free resources to learn Spanish? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.