Tapujos

Tapujos

Concealment.

Información directa y sin tapujos.

Actuar sin tapujos.
Keep things above board.

Cruzarle a alguien

Ella me cruzó ayer en la calle.

I ran into her in the street yesterday.
(in the crossed paths sense).

Darse el caso

Podría darse el caso que gasto todo mi dinero arreglando el auto.

It could happen (arise) that I spend all my money fixing the car.

La situación no se ha dado al caso todavía.

The situation hasn't yet arisen.

Llamarle la atencion a alguien

Me llama la atención que su camisa es verde.

The translation of llamar la atencion is rather easy to understand, it's just "attract attention" or "call attention." It's also used as a way of expressing that something stands out, or even that you like something, so you end up hearing it a lot:

- ¿Qué es lo que más te llama la atención del departamento?
- A mi me encantan las cortinas.

Menos de...

As I'm selling something, my friend asked me how much I'd be selling it for. My response should have been:

Menos de lo que lo compré.

Less than what I bought it for.

To get your head around the phrase, the lo que is acting like "that which" in English.

Gustar -- you're a tricky one.

Reading a blog post, I stumbled upon this:

No me suelen gustar estas combinaciones.

I'm not used to liking...

From an English speaking mindset, this is a really tough construction. It seems especially backwards since it appears to say that estas combinaciones have the habit. Odd, indeed. As I say a lot, sometimes it's best just to go with it. I doubt I would have come up with this on my own.

If it's any consolation to you, Spanish learner, my teacher has messed up things using gustar before. It's also been the root of a few debates.

Similarly:

Creo que te va a gustar la pelicula.

Revolear la chancleta

Cuando las chicas vienen a Buenos Aires, revolean la chancleta.

Let their hair down.

Literally: "chuck/toss the sandal."