Proverbs versus Idioms

Definition:
A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. Proverbs fall into the category of formulaic language.
Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe. Mieder has concluded that cultures that treat the Bible as their "major spiritual book contain between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible."^[1] However, almost every culture has examples of its own unique proverbs.

                                                                                                                                  (Wikipedia)

 E.g.

"As cold as ice"                                                                         Tan frío como el hielo 
"It's like watching dry"                                                             Algo que es muy aburrido
"Silence is golden"                                                                    El silencio es oro 
"(sb/sth) is a pain in the neck" (... es un dolor en el cuello)     Alguien que es molesto

Links:

The 50 most important English proverbs

An idiom (Latin: idioma, "special property", from Greek: ἰδίωμα – idíōma, "special feature, special phrasing, a peculiarity", f. Greek: ἴδιος – ídios, "one's own") is a phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning. An idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning.

Idiom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom

Better late than never.
Más vale tarde que nunca.

Do as I say, not as I do.
No sigas mi ejemplo.

Don't bite off more than you can chew.
Quien mucho aprieta, poco abarca. 

He let the cat out of the bag.
Se le escapó (un secreto).

Nothing lasts forever.
Nada dura para siempre.

She hit the nail on the head.
Ella dió en el clavo.

The early bird catches the worm.
A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.
No se puede tener todo en la vida.


¿Cuándo libras?= When are you free?

De perdidos al rio=in for a penny, in for a pound

¡Está que no caga! = he's on cloud nine!

Estoy cachond@=I'm horny

Libro el lunes=I have Mondays off

No me tomes el pelo=Don't pull my leg

Pan comido=piece of cake

Por si las moscas=Just in case

¡Qué desastre!= What a mess!

Tírale de la lengua=Egg him on


From Shakespeare:
Dream on (Buckingham's Ghost, Richard III)
Sigue soñando (El fantasma de Buckingham en Ricardo III)

"Señor cuán insensatos son los humanos" Puck, en Sueño de una noche de verano.
Una verdad como Escorial de grande. Shakespeare diría "Very like a whale" = tanto como una ballena (Polonio en Hamlet)

Words are but wind (The Comedy of Errors)
Las palabras se las lleva el viento (La comedia de los errores)

¡Un caballo!, ¡un caballo!. ¡Mi reino por un caballo! (Ricardo III)
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! (Richard III)


Recommended books:
From Lost to the River, Federico López Socasau

Recommended videos:
Gomaespuminglish


Idioms of Like

        like ships that pass in the night

        like stink

        like the clappers 

        like the sound of something 

        like there is/was no tomorrow 

        like there’s no tomorrow

        like two peas in a pod

        like wildfire


Idioms of  Colours

RED

to be in the red [account, firm] "estar en números rojos""   ⇒ I'm £100 in the red" "tengo un descubierto de 100 libras en el banco""   ⇒ to go into or get into the red" "contraer deudas""   ⇒ to get out of the red" "liquidar las deudas"

to see red "sulfurarse", "salirse de sus casillas""   ⇒ this makes me see red" "esto me saca de quicio"

it's like a red rag to a bull "es lo que más le saca de quicio"

to roll out the red carpet for sb "recibir a algn por todo lo alto or a bombo y platillo""   ⇒ to give sb the red carpet treatment" "tratar a algn a cuerpo de rey"

not a red cent (US, informal) "ni una gorda (inf)"


to go or turn as red as a beetroot "ponerse como un tomate"

reds under the bed (informal) "la amenaza comunista"

poner rojo a algn "to make sb blush"

ponerse rojo "to turn red", "blush"

ponerse rojo de ira "to go purple with rage"


BLUE

once in a blue moon "de Pascuas a Ramos"

you can shout till you're blue in the face (informal) "puedes gritar hasta hartarte"

to go like a blue streak (US, informal) "ir como un rayo"

to talk like a blue streak (US, informal) "hablar muy deprisa"

to come out of the blue [money, good news] "venir como cosa llovida del cielo", "bajar del cielo" [bad news] "caer como una bomba""   ⇒ he said out of the blue" "dijo de repente", "dijo inesperadamente"

blue film=película verde

to be out of the blue=estar en la Inopia


BLACK

to swear black and blue "jurar por todo lo más santo" ("that" "que")

in black and white"   ⇒ I should like it in black and white" "quisiera tenerlo por escrito""   ⇒ there it is in black and white!" "¡ahí lo tiene en letras de molde!"

más negro que el azabache "jet-black"

negro como boca de lobo, negro como un pozo "pitch-black", "pitch-dark"

pasarlas negras "to have a tough time of it"

verse negro "to be in a jam (inf)""   ⇒ verse negro para hacer algo" "to have one's work cut out to do sth""   ⇒ nos vimos negros para salir del apuro" "we had a tough time getting out of it"

vérselas negras "to find o.s. in trouble"

trabajar como un negro "to work like a dog", "slave away (inf)"


WHITE

whiter than white [person, way of life] "sin tacha", "angelical""   ⇒ "Bleacho" washes whiter than white" ""Bleacho" deja la colada blanca como la nieve""   ⇒ he went white at the age of 30" "el pelo se le puso blanco a los 30 años", "encaneció a los 30 años""   ⇒ she was white with rage" "estaba pálida de la rabia"

to show the white feather "mostrarse cobarde"

to be as white as a sheet or ghost "estar pálido como la muerte"

blanco como la nieve "as white as snow"

blanco como la cera o como el papel o como la pared "as white as a sheet"

decir que lo blanco es negro "to swear that black is white"

no distinguir lo blanco de lo negro "to be unable to tell right from wrong"

poner los ojos en blanco "to roll one's eyes"

verlo todo blanco o negro "to see everything in black and white"

pasar la noche en blanco "not to sleep a wink (inf)", "have a sleepless night"

quedarse en blanco"   ⇒ el concursante se quedó en blanco" "the contestant's mind went blank""   ⇒ no pude contestar porque se me quedó la mente en blanco" "I couldn't answer because my mind went blank"


GREEN

to be green with envy "morirse de envidia""   ⇒ to make sb green with envy" "ponerle a algn los dientes largos"

the green shoots of recovery "los primeros indicios de la recuperación"

he's as green as grass "es más inocente que un niño"

estar verde de envidia "to be green with envy"

poner verde a algn (informal) "to run sb down (inf)", "slag sb off (v. inf)""   ⇒ siempre ponen verde al jefe" "they're always running down (inf) o slagging off (v. inf) the boss""   ⇒ me llamó y me puso verde por no haberla ayudado" "she called me and gave me a piece of her mind for not helping her (inf)"


PINK

to be in the pink (= healthy) "rebosar salud" (= happy) "estar feliz y contento"

to be in the pink of condition "estar en perfecto estado"

como una rosa"   ⇒ estar como una rosa" "to feel as fresh as a daisy""   ⇒ un cutis como una rosa" "a skin as soft as silk""   ⇒ estar como las propias rosas" "to feel entirely at ease""   ⇒ florecer como rosa en mayo" "to bloom", "flourish"

no hay rosa sin espinas "there's no rose without a thorn"


PURPLE

pasarlas moradas "to have a tough time of it"

ponerse morado (de algo) (informal) "to stuff one's face (with sth) (inf)"


BROWN

as brown as a berry "muy moreno", "bronceadísimo"

comerse un marrón "to own up"


SILVER

como una plata "bright as a pin"

hablar en plata "to speak bluntly", "speak frankly"


GOLDEN

dorar la píldora "to sweeten the pill"


ORANGE

¡naranjas!, ¡naranjas de la China! "no way! (inf)", "nothing doing! (inf)"""



                                                                                                                  Collins Spanish Dictionary