Hello, there! How you doin’? (Joey Tribbiani style!)

The word pata in Spanish means the leg or paw of an animal, the leg of a piece of furniture, in some countries in Latin America it means “pal” or “buddy” and it is obviously the feminine of pato (duck).

Pata also has some very interesting and useful idioms and I decided to share some of them with you, my dear reader who is learning Spanish!

Are you ready for this?

01. Estirar la pata = to die, to kick the bucket (lit. to stretch your legs)

Los herederos del millonario están esperando que tire la pata.
The millionaire’s heirs are waiting for him to kick the bucket.

¿No te enteraste? Estiró la pata anoche. Un infarto, creo.
Didn’t you hear? He kicked the bucket last night. A heart attack, I guess.

Si sigues fumando así vas a estirar la pata pronto.
If you keep smoking like that you’ll kick the bucket soon.

02. Mala pata = bad luck

Ando de mala pata últimamente. Todo me sale mal.
I’ve had bad luck lately. Nothing goes right.

¡Qué mala pata que te pongas enfermo justo el día de tu fiesta!
Such bad luck you get sick right on the day of your party!

¡Qué mala pata tiene ese muchacho!
That guy is so unlucky!

03. Meter la pata = to mess something up (lit. put your foo in it)

Espero no meter la pata en el exámen.
I hope I don’t mess up on the quiz.

Realmente metiste la pata y ahora ¡estás fregado!
You really messed up and now you’re in big trouble!

Concéntrate en tu entrevista de trabaho. No vayas a meter a pata.
Focus on your job interview. Don’t you screw up.

04. Patas arriba = (place) in a mess, upside down

Mi madre me dijo que ordenara mi habitación pues está todo patas arriba.
My mom told me to clean up my room because everything is upside down.

No sé qué pensar; el mundo está patas arriba.
I don’t know what to think. The world is upside down.

Cuando entré en el aula todo estaba patas arriba.
When I walked into the classroom everything was upside down.

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