English: Milk Greek: Γάλα [γála] Spanish: Leche Russian: молоко [malakó] Turkish: süt
As defined by the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language milk is: An opaque white fluid rich in fat and protein, secreted by female mammals for the nourishment of their young.
Through milk, vital elements for the development of the human being are transferred from the mother to the baby. Such has been the importance of milk for human life that in many civilisations around the world people started assigning sacred properties to it, making it part of their religious rituals. And people tend to keep on drinking milk long after the breast feeding period, strongly believing in its nutritive value and its “magical” power.
To take this observation a bit further, in many civilisations around the world this “magical” power would often be responsible for a person´s personality. In an attempt to find someone to blame for a person´s bad character or behaviour, people would often refer back to the woman who breast fed them and to the qualities she transferred to them through her milk. In fact, it was a common practice for many families, especially the rich ones, to hire a wet nurse for the breast feeding of their new-born. The process of choosing the most suitable wet nurse was of extreme importance due to the common belief that this woman’s qualities, both the positive and the negative ones, would be transferred to the baby through her milk.
But why writing a blog post about milk?
Since I moved to Spain and I started observing Spanish speakers and how they express themselves, one thing stroke my attention right from the beginning: How often the word “leche” (the Spanish word for “milk”) would be mentioned in everyday colloquial speech.
And I started wondering why. To my opinion, any possible explanation should be found in Spain’s cultural heritage.
Spain has always been an agricultural country, although towards the end of the 20th century it experienced a significant touristic, industrial and technological growth. Its agricultural tradition and long-lasting relationship of Spanish people with their land and its products is constantly being reflected on their language. Words like “leche” often come up during a normal conversation, but especially when people feel the need to express their opinion or attitude towards a person or a specific situation.
If you’ve also been in Spain you might have come across expressions like “Es de la leche!” or “A toda leche” or “Tiene mala leche”. Some of them are extremely vulgar, nevertheless Spanish speakers use them all, without discrimination, in various different situations.
Let´s have a look at some of these expressions:
“Ser / Tener mala leche”
It would literally be translated as “To be or to have bad milk” meaning a person who is moody, bad-tempered. The expression could be an indirect reference to the presumable bad temper of the woman who breast fed this person when they were a baby. It could also refer to the bad-quality milk which this person keeps in his fridge. Either way, Spanish speakers use this expression to refer to someone´s personality, his character.
“Estar de mala leche”
That´s a bit different than the previous expression, literally translated as “To be of bad milk”, meaning a temporal situation in which a person is overwhelmed by negative emotions, they are in a bad temper at a specific moment.
“Ser la leche / Ser de la leche”
Literally translated as “To be the milk” or “To be of the milk”
This expression is applied in numerous occasions and its meaning is mainly depended on the speaker’s attitude towards the person or the thing, situation, idea etc. that he is referring to.
So, on one hand, you can use the expression to refer to a person e.g. “Miguel es la leche!” (Miguel is the milk), meaning that Miguel has extraordinary qualities, he is amazing at what he does. The expression can also be used to suggest someone’s positive reaction to a situation, a thing, an idea etc., meaning that the situation is amazing or incredible e.g. “Este bar es de la leche!” (This bar is the milk).
On the other hand, it can be applied when someone is negatively surprised by someone else’s behaviour or reaction to a situation or when they have had several negative experiences the one after the other and they can’t believe it.
e.g. “Es la leche, lo he hecho todo por nada”
“A toda leche”
It’s applied when someone or something is moving very fast.
eg. “El coche va a toda leche!” – This car is going very fast
eg. “Tenemos que ir a toda leche!” – We have to move fast.
“Echando leches”
Same as before, it means “very fast” or “in a hurry”
eg. Se fué echando leches. – He left in a hurry.
“Dar / Darse una leche”
It´s an expression meaning “to hit” someone or something. It can be combined with other verbs like “meter una leche” or “pegar un leche”
“Leches!”
It´s a really useful expression. It can be applied to express “surprise”, “admiration” or even “anger”. The thing is that it can be used to express a really big variety of emotions. In just one word a speaker can summarise his whole attitude towards a specific situation or incident. Nevertheless, it can also be misunderstood by the other person. Just make sure you combine it with the right body language.
“Cagarse en la leche”
That´s a bit more vulgar than the other expressions. “Cagarse” actually means “to shit” and while in Spain you will most probably listen to a Spanish native speaker saying “Me cago en la leche!” in an effort to get over the fact that he´s not having the best day of their life. But what does the speaker actually mean? As many other expressions, this one is also used to express anger or mere annoyance. Just use it whenever you feel like blaming the universe for your bad luck.
So next time you are in Spain, keep these pretty useful expressions in your little notebook. They can ease your way into so many different situations!
Are you aware of more Spanish expressions using the word “milk”? What “milk-related” expressions are there in your own language? You can leave a comment below.