Leonor from Dallas, Texas, says that when she was a child, her Spanish-speaking mother and grandmother used to her after a bump or scrape with Sana, sana, colita de rana, Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana , literally, “Heal, heal, little frog’s tail. If you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow.” Somehow this always helped distract her from any minor pain. There are many versions of this saying throughout Latin America. Another ends with Dame un besito para hoy y mañana , or “Give me a kiss for today and tomorrow.” Around the world, similarly soothing phrases are often accompanied with a bit of touch or gentle massage, which works at least as well as the words themselves. This is part of a complete episode.
A listener named Lita who grew up in Cuba shares her favorite Spanish idiom for “working hard”: sudando tinta, or literally, “sweating ink.” This is part of a complete episode.
Sarah Jane in Tucson, Arizona, recalls hearing the phrase out where God lost his galoshes for any far-flung, hard-to-reach place. Similar phrases include where God left his overshoes, where Jesus lost his sandals, where Jesus lost his cap, where...
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