Say it with Spanish slang
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NAKED AS A GROUP?
In Mexico, the phrase en bola means "as a group." But in other countries like Colombia, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Argentina, en bola translates literally to "in balls," and is considered a vulgar term for being naked.
FOUR WAYS OF LOOKING AT AN ELBOW
What does an elbow mean to you? In Spanish slang, it takes on different meanings.
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In Mexico and parts of Central America and the Caribbean, a man who is muy codo (very elbow) is stingy and doesn't like to part with his money. In extreme cases he can be called codisimo, the "elbowest."
In Spain, hacer codos (to make elbows) means to study (as we bend our elbows and rest our heads on our hands to read).
In many places, empinar el codo (to raise one's elbow) means to do some serious drinking.
Throughout the Spanish-speaking world, there are references to the person que habla hasta por los codos, literally, "the one who talks through his or her elbows." That means a person who is going on and on or, to put it in plain English, one who talks a blue streak.
SOMETHING'S FISHY
Ponte trucha. (Become a trout, meaning, "Look sharp.") Someone might give you this advice in Mexico or El Salvador, if it seems that you need to be more alert to what's going on.
Names of fish can mean different things in different places.
A bacalao (codfish) is a pleasant, agreeable person in Colombia, but it means someone very skinny in Puerto Rico, Uraguay, and parts of Florida.
A pirana in Mexico is a big eater, but in Costa Rica, El Salvador or Colombia it means someone who has aggressive business practices.
With that kind of business dealing, you would have to be careful not to tragarte el anzuelo (swallow the hook, meaning "to fall for a scam"), especially if you want someday to become an un pez gordo (a fat fish, meaning "a big shot"). These two expressions are used almost everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.
On the other hand, you may prefer to say, as they do in some parts of Latin America, Me rio de los peces de colores. (I laugh at colorful fish -- that is, "I don't worry about anything.")
(Source: "Streetwise Spanish Dictionary/Thesaurus," by Mary McVey Gill and Brenda Wegmann. McGraw Hill, 2001.)