“Moon” (luna) you may know, and you may have heard someone say there is a “full moon” (luna llena).

When we want to speak about something that happened some or a long time ago, or we cannot remember when it happened, there is an expression “many moons ago”. Some examples:

  • The last time I was in New York was many moons ago (hace muchas lunas).
  • Many moons ago the tax rate on income was 10%.

Why do the English use “moons” in this way? The reason is simple: they used to measure long periods of time by counting the full moons. So you could say “I was in New York 10 moons ago”, meaning approximately 10 months.

Now some idioms (modismos) using “moon”.

  • Mr. Sanchez is promising the moon (prometiendo la luna). This means he is promising many things that are just not possible.
  • I go to New York “once in a blue moon”, meaning I seldomly (raramente) go there.
  • Mr. Farage will be “over the moon” (estará loco de contento) if he wins the election.
  • Mr. Podemos is asking for the moon (pidiendo la luna), meaning that he is asking for many things.