In English, if a bad situation seems imminent but is finally avoided, we might reply with an interjection like "Thank goodness!" or "Whew!". I know "Thank goodness!" has several possible translations at the beginning of a sentence, but I'm thinking of it being used as a standalone interjection. What is typically said in Spanish in situations like this?
2 Answers
A usual translation for the interjection "Whew!" is
¡Fiu!
In these situations it is common to say:
¡Qué alivio!
It is also common to say
Me salvé por un pelo.
In Uruguay we say also "En el anca de un piojo" but I don't know if this is common elsewhere.
to express how close to the bad situation we had come.
"Thank goodness" might also be "Gracias a Dios", but this may have a religious component.
A common verb is "zafar". For example,
El profesor estaba interrogando alumnos al azar, pero yo zafé por estar en una esquinita, medio oculto.
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Nice answer! "En el anca de un piojo" is not known in Colombia and Ecuador. Other countries I don't know. Jan 24, 2012 at 9:14
Just to add to Bruno's answer you can say these aswell:
¡Gracias al cielo!
¡Menos mal!
¡Uf!
and for some humor we say sometimes this in Colombia:
Me salvé por un pelo de rana calva.
The translation would be I saved myself by the hair of a bald frog. Since frogs have no hair, a bald frog would have even less hair. So he saved himself by so little!