La vida da muchas vueltas

[ROBINDESBOIS]

It means that life is unpredictable, anything can happen. Any expressions in English??

[aleCcowaN]

Podría ser "life has many twists and turns". También podría ser "life can turn on a dime", pero eso me suena a "la vida puede cambiar de improviso".

[Chris]

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Simply means that life is sometimes sour so make good of what you do have. A lemon is sour by definition 1 below. Life is sour by definition 3. And lemonade... Well lemonade is just good.

From: http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdic...ictionary/sour

1 having a taste like that of a lemon or of fruit that is not ready to eat
sour apples
a sour flavour

2 (especially of milk) having an unpleasant taste or smell because it is not fresh
to turn/go sour
a sour smell

3 (of people) not cheerful; bad-tempered and unpleasant
a sour and disillusioned woman
a sour face
The meeting ended on a sour note with several people walking out.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Chris

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade..

Am I missing something? I don't see what this has to do with La vida da muchas vueltas

[Chris]

Life?

[hermit]

"It's a long and winding road..."

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Chris: Yours is a different saying. "When life gives you lemons", is good for when you can actually decide what you can do and take your chances.
"La vida da vueltas" is used when something happens by chance and you expect to be ready for when circumstances will change (for good or for bad).

Situation: You have been fired with no justification, but you expect to be in a better situation in the future where you can get a revenge, or that the boss will go through a hard time as well.
What you say: El jefe me echó del trabajo sin ninguna justificación, pero la vida da muchas vueltas.

Situation: You have stolen a bank and you're living in a very nice style, but someone who knows what you did, and expects you will get caught.
What they say: Ahora tienes mucho dinero, pero ten cuidado, la vida da muchas vueltas.

Situation: A friend's girlfriend has cheated on him and you try to comfort him.
What you say: La vida da muchas vueltas y alguien va a engañarla a ella como te engañó a ti.

[Chris]

Oh well in those situations I would say something like "He'll get what's coming to him."

Billy had it all and then he got hooked on drugs. He lost his family, his friends, his home, his car and his job. "He took a turn for the worst." Billy went to rehab. He got a new job and worked really hard to stay off drugs. He had some of his friendships rekindled and was able to start seeing his family again. "He took a turn for the better." Turn for the better/worst is an expression we sometimes use. Not the same as your examples but it does regard life. And taking turns.

[JPablo]

I get the different options given in the thread. I'd add another expression such as, "life's full of ups and downs".

You could say, ¡las vueltas que da la vida! meaning how things change!, life’s full of ups and downs!

(There was a song too, that read, "El mundo las vueltas que da...")

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by JPablo

I get the different options given in the thread. I'd add another expression such as, "life's full of ups and downs".

You could say, ¡las vueltas que da la vida! meaning how things change!, life’s full of ups and downs!

(There was a song too, that read, "El mundo las vueltas que da...")

Life's full of ups and downs.
Life is full of ups and downs.
Life has its ups and downs.

Life has its peaks and its valleys.
Life is (like) a rollercoaster (ride).
Life is full of surprises.
Life is never dull.