Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«Por fuera, bendición; por dentro, maldición.»

Word for word

Outside, a blessing; inside, a curse.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: Beautiful outside, rotten inside.

Used to describe someone or something that appears lovely on the outside but is harmful or unpleasant within. Common when warning about deceptive people.

Hear it in a sentence

Esa casa parece hermosa, pero por fuera, bendición; por dentro, maldición, porque está llena de humedad.

That house looks beautiful, but beautiful outside, rotten inside, because it's full of damp.

Why learn dichos?

Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.

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