In Finnish we have “kissanristiäiset” (literally means a cat’s christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.
There’s a bunch of weird ones in Portuguese.
- “Caroço de manga não é sabonete” Do you think that mango seed is soap? = “this is an absurd proposal/situation/etc.”
- “Pobre só sobe na vida quando o barraco explode” Poor people only ascend on life when the [shit]shack explodes. = “don’t expect social ascension”
- “Enquanto vem com o milho, já comi a polenta.” While you’re bringing the corn, I already ate the polenta. = “I’ve already handled this, you’re too late.”
- “um polaco de cada colônia” a Pole from each settlement = a bunch of randomly picked people or items. I don’t think that people use this too much outside Paraná.
- “farinha do mesmo saco” flour from the same bag = extremely similar in some aspects that matter (and usually negative ones)
- “comer o pão que o diabo amassou” to eat the bread kneaded by the devil = to go through rough times
- “Vai chupar prego até virar tachinha!” Go suck an [iron] nail until it becomes a thumbtack! = somewhat polite way to tell someone to fuck off
- “Vai ver se estou na esquina.” *Go check if I’m around the corner." = also a way to tell people to fuck off
- “anta quadrada” squared tapir = “anta” tapir is used to call someone stupid, so anta quadrada is stupid to the power of two.
- “anta cúbica” cubed tapir = because some people do some really, really stupid shit.
- “mais louco que o Requião de pedalinho” crazier than Requião on a paddle boat = Requião is a politician here in Paraná known for his crazy antics. The phrase highlights that something is completely fucking crazy. Clearly local.
- “teu cu” your arse[hole] = definitively, clearly, and blatantly “no”.
Small note, this is Brazilian Portuguese 🇧🇷 (PT-BR), not European Portuguese 🇵🇹 (PT-PT). I never heard most of these. We do have the “farinha do mesmo saco” and “comer o pão que o diabo amassou” though.
One important detail is that those country-based labels are at most abstractions or geographical terms. “Brazilian Portuguese” and “European Portuguese” aren’t actual, well-defined dialects; what people actually speak is local, in both sides. (e.g. “Paulistano Portuguese”, “Alentejano Portuguese”, “Estremenho Portuguese”, you get the idea.)
This is relevant here because I wouldn’t be surprised if plenty Brazilians never heard some of those. For example, “um polaco de cada colônia” only makes sense in Paraná, Polish immigration here was large enough to make some people call other immigrants “Poles”, even Germans and Italians. So the “Poles from each colony” are usually people/things that you might think that are related, but have zero to do with each other.
You’re not wrong but the way I see it it’s a hierarchical term.
Portuguese - all Portuguese based languages Brazilian Portuguese - all Portuguese dialects in Brazil European Portuguese - all Portuguese dialects in Portugal Angolan Portuguese - all Portuguese dialects in Angola and so on…
I’m not expecting everyone to know every expression under the sun, but those are CLEARLY Brazilian-Portuguese based so I thought it best to clear it up because people just say Portuguese most times and I feel that creates some confusion.
Only a few of these - “comer o pão que o diabo amassou”, “vai ver se estou na esquina” - are used in Portugal, so they’re mostly used in Brasil.
The language hasn’t drifted all that much in between both countries during the last couple of hundred years but expressions seem to tend to be the first to drift away.
It also seems to me that expressions drift away faster than other aspects of the language. Perhaps due to their casual nature, or due to context. And they’re often extremely local, too - for example, I’ve heard nordestinos using “sacrifício de mundo” (lit. world sacrifice) to refer to difficult things, while folks here in Paraná practically never do it. While saying that something is “uma vaca no milharal” (a cow in the corn farm - wrecking everything with no regards or reason) usually outs the person as from a rural background.
For speakers from Portugal there’s an additional weird expression: pila is used here in Paraná as a completely innocent word for money, e.g. “dois pila” two bucks. (In PT I believe that it’s used as a slang for dick.)
You are correct on the pila thing, though it’s old fashioned and kinda children’s language.
Funilly enough and if I remember it correctly, a pila is a kind of throwable spear from the Roman times.
Haven’t seen some of these before. Ones I particularly like are:
- Tirar o cavalo da chuva: take your horse away from the rain = give up on something
- Lavar as mãos: wash (the) hands = do not involve yourself in something
Wash your hands of [something] is also in American English, although I think more typically used when you were already involved in something then removed yourself from the situation
Another Bible reference; this one refers to Roman governor Pontius Pilate washing his hands to indicate being done with the issue of Jesus’s execution.
I always said it as while you’re bringing the wheat I already ate the bread. But in my family we exaggerated it for effect: while you’re buying the wheat seed, I already shat the bread 😂
while you’re buying the wheat seed, I already shat the bread
Like, “enquanto você tá comprando o trigo, já caguei o pão”? That’s hilarious!
Czech has a lot of them!
Dělá z komára velblouda.
He’s making a camel out of a mosquito.
= He’s making it seem like a bigger problem than it is.
Nemaluj čerta na zeď.
Don’t draw an imp on the wall.
= Don’t be pessimistic. Don’t assume the most catastrophic scenario.
Jsem tam pečený vařený.
I’m there baked cooked.
= I go there a lot.
Dala mi košem.
She hit me with a basket.
= She dumped me, or rejected my (mostly romantic) offer or advances.
Dělá jako by se nechumelilo.
He’s pretending like it’s not heavily snowing.
= He’s pretending like something doesn’t concern him. He’s nonchalant about a serious situation.
Kápni božskou!
Drip the divine! (Object implied. Probably “the divine truth”)
= Tell the truth. Spill it.
Láme to přes koleno.
He’s breaking it over his knee.
= He’s forcing it.
Natáhnout bačkory / brka, zaklepat bačkorama
To stretch (one’s) slippers / quills, to tap with (one’s) slippers
= To die. To kick the bucket.
Padli jsme si do oka.
We fell into each other’s eye.
= We hit it off.
Rozumí tomu jako koza petrželi.
He understands it like a goat understands parsley.
= He doesn’t understand it.
Přišel jsem s křížkem po funuse.
I came with a little cross after the funeral.
= I came too late.
Házím perly sviním.
I’m throwing pearls to swines.
= I’m doing good work or acts of kindness that go underappreciated.
And I could go on :)
I am absolutely going to use “he’s pretending like it’s not heavily snowing” from now on. Thank you for sharing all of these!
Like pearls to swine is a very seldom used idiom in English too, used very rarely and often in archaic/medievel/fantasy settings. Very interesting 2 languages have a shared idiom so neatly translated.
Some of these are very interesting to me because very similar ones exist in German! Especially “einen Korb geben” (to give a basket) has me intrigued. Does this phrase come from a social norm to give a basket of something to someone you reject?
Thanks for sharing!
I could hear someone with a very (US) Georgian accent saying “He understands that like a goat understands parsley”.
In Dutch we have one similar to dělá z komára velblouda, we say “van een mug een olifant maken” (making a mosquito out for an elephant), it means the same!
Also one similar to přišel jsem s křížkem po funuse; “mosterd na de maaltijd” (mustard after the meal) means something mentioned or brought too late, when it was no longer necessary.
I wonder how many languages have sayings like this.
In Australia people who mean business say “I’m not here to fuck spiders.” I think that’s just wonderful.
In America we express suffering beyond words by saying we’re “living the dream”. And the Brits think we have an irony deficiency.
In France we’re not here to fuck flies
We don’t mind others’ onions
When someone is about to get late somewhere, we say « Tu vas te faire appeler Arthur » (literally « You’re gonna be called Arthur »)
This expression came during the German occupation, when soldiers would shout « Acht Uhr » (« eight hour ») to people during curfew. It sounds like « Arthur » in French.
Last one. « Faire le Jacques » (« acting like Jack ») means « playing dumb »
Aussie subtleties of the c-word.
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“Silly Cunt” = funny person (endearing)
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“Stupid Cunt” = complete idiot (serious)
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“Dumb Cunt” = a good mate acting stupid (jovial)
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“This Cunt” = referring to a good mate who’s done/said something uniquely odd (jovial)
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“Acting like a Cunt” = acting terribly (serious)
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“Don’t be a Cunt” = stop acting terribly (serious)
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“Bunch of Cunts” = all your good mates (endearing)
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“Good Cunt” = the best compliment you can receive (endearing)
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“Dog Cunt” = the worst insult you can receive (get ready to fight)
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“Shit Cunt” = insult (serious)
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“Bit of a Cunt” = insult (jovial)
Here are some useful Australian phrases:
- Flat out like a lizard drinking (working hard)
- we’re not here to fuck spiders (you’re wasting time, get on with the work)
- 40¢ short of a shout (not quite right in the head)
- How’d you be? (Are you well?)
- Living the dream (I am well, thank you)
- See you when I’m looking at you (goodbye)
“Living the dream” is also in the US but it’s usually more sarcastic like “Just another shitty day at this job, just living the dream!”
I want to tell everyone that we aren’t here to fuck spiders. This is my new anthem.
The more work appropriate version of this is “im not here to put boots on caterpillars”
