estar a la lluna
Literally to be on the moon
Means to be daydreaming, absent minded
Example Perdona, no t'he sentit, estava a la lluna.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Catalan idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Catalan idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, estar a la lluna literally means "to be on the moon" but is used to mean to be daydreaming, absent minded. This free tool lists 15 real Catalan idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Catalan idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
estar a la lluna
Literally to be on the moon
Means to be daydreaming, absent minded
Example Perdona, no t'he sentit, estava a la lluna.
ploure a bots i barrals
Literally to rain wineskins and barrels
Means to rain very heavily, pour down
Example No surtim ara, que plou a bots i barrals.
tenir la paella pel mànec
Literally to hold the frying pan by the handle
Means to be in control of a situation
Example En aquesta negociació, som nosaltres qui tenim la paella pel mànec.
no tenir pèls a la llengua
Literally to have no hairs on the tongue
Means to speak bluntly, not mince one's words
Example La meva àvia no té pèls a la llengua i sempre diu el que pensa.
fer campana
Literally to make bell
Means to skip school, play truant
Example Els meus companys van fer campana per anar al cinema.
fer safareig
Literally to do the wash house
Means to gossip
Example Les veïnes es passen el matí fent safareig al replà.
tenir mala llet
Literally to have bad milk
Means to be in a foul mood, be bad tempered
Example No li diguis res ara, que té mala llet.
fer-se l'orni
Literally to make oneself the fool
Means to play dumb, pretend not to notice or understand
Example No et facis l'orni, saps perfectament què ha passat.
anar-se'n en orris
Literally to go off into ruins
Means to fall through, come to nothing (of plans)
Example Amb la pluja, l'excursió se'n va anar en orris.
tocar el dos
Literally to touch the two
Means to leave, scram, clear off
Example Va, toca el dos abans que arribi el professor.
posar fil a l'agulla
Literally to put thread to the needle
Means to get down to business, start working on something in earnest
Example Prou de reunions, ja toca posar fil a l'agulla.
costar un ull de la cara
Literally to cost an eye from the face
Means to be very expensive, cost a fortune
Example Aquell viatge ens va costar un ull de la cara.
quedar-se de pedra
Literally to remain as stone
Means to be stunned, left speechless
Example Em vaig quedar de pedra quan vaig veure la factura.
passar-s'ho pipa
Literally to pass it pipe
Means to have a great time, have a blast
Example A la festa d'ahir ens ho vam passar pipa.
buscar tres peus al gat
Literally to look for three feet on the cat
Means to overcomplicate things, look for problems that aren't there
Example No busquis tres peus al gat, la resposta és molt senzilla.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Catalan books with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so you meet idioms in the wild and tap any line you do not get. Save them and review later. Free to start.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Estar a la lluna comes out as "to be on the moon", which makes no sense until you know it means to be daydreaming, absent minded.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Catalan sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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Some of the most common Catalan idioms are estar a la lluna, ploure a bots i barrals, tenir la paella pel mànec, no tenir pèls a la llengua. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This tool lists 15 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
In Catalan, "estar a la lluna" translates literally as "to be on the moon", but it actually means to be daydreaming, absent minded. You would use it like this: Perdona, no t'he sentit, estava a la lluna.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Estar a la lluna translates literally as "to be on the moon", yet it means to be daydreaming, absent minded. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Catalan with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.