Let’s go to learn Spanish! #6
Posted in Advanced level, ELE, Español como Lengua Extranjera, Learning Spanish, Let's go to learn Spanish!, Nivel avanzado, Spanish as a foreign language
“DE TAL PALO, TAL ASTILLA”
It’s used for people who imitate or acquire certain characteristics or qualities from their parents or the environment where they grow up.
This expression means literally that the splinters that come from a stick will have the same characteristics as the stick. But, figuratively, it refers to the similarity between parents and children: due to either genetic background or education, many children resemble their parents in their behaviour, taste, or physical aspect.
“De tal palo, tal astilla” can be translated into English in different ways: like father, like son; like mother, like daughter; like father, like son; a chip off the old block.
Here there’s an example in everyday use:
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- Clara es guapísima, al igual que su madre. Como dicen, de tal palo, tal astilla.
- [Clara is really gorgeous, like her mother. As they say, she’s a chip off the old block / like mother, like daughter.]
