Echar sapos y culebras
To spit out toads and snakes.
to spit venom; **to spit venom**; **to hurl insults**; **to curse someone out**; **to rant furiously**; **to lash out verbally**
Echar sapos y culebras means to hurl insults, to curse furiously, to rant angrily, to spit venom, or to say extremely unpleasant things about someone.
Salió echando sapos y culebras.
He came out spitting venom.
Estuvo toda la tarde echando sapos y culebras contra su jefe.
He spent the whole afternoon ranting about his boss.
Cada vez que habla de él, echa sapos y culebras.
Every time she talks about him, she hurls insults.
Entró en casa echando sapos y culebras.
She came home furious, cursing everyone.
It usually refers to speech full of anger, resentment or bitterness.
- insults another person
- complains furiously
- speaks with great anger
- vents their rage verbally
- criticises someone in extremely harsh terms
The expression comes from medieval and folkloric imagery in which evil or wicked people were imagined as spitting poisonous creatures such as toads and snakes.
These animals traditionally symbolised malice, poison and hatred.
The metaphor naturally evolved into describing speech filled with insults and bitterness.
The expression does not imply physical violence.
It refers exclusively to what someone says, not to what they do.
Because of its colourful imagery, it often adds a humorous touch even when describing genuine anger.
Spanish has several expressions describing angry speech:
- Echar sapos y culebras → to spit venom.
- Poner verde a alguien → to badmouth someone.
- Poner a caldo → to criticise someone harshly.
- Poner a parir → to tear someone apart verbally.
Among them, echar sapos y culebras is perhaps the most visual, transforming angry words into poisonous animals emerging from the speaker's mouth, a metaphor that has existed in Spanish literature for centuries.
Do not translate the expression literally.
English speakers would never say:
He spat out toads and snakes.
Instead, use expressions such as:
- He was spitting venom.
- She hurled insults.
- He cursed everyone out.
- She ranted furiously.
Choose the translation according to whether the emphasis is on insults, anger or bitterness.
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