Appendix:Portuguese idioms

This is a list of idioms in the Portuguese language. Proverbs and idioms with direct equivalents in the English language are excluded.

Idiom	Literal Translation	Meaning
Atirar-se de cabeça	Plunge head first	Face a problem without hesitation
Ficar em águas de bacalhau	Remain in codfish waters	Tackled but unsolved problem
Tirar o cavalinho da chuva	Take the pony away from the rain	Forget it/don't wait for it
Ir para o olho da rua	Go to the eye of the street	To be thrown out
Estás aqui, estás a comer	You are here, you are (going) to eat	I am about to hurt you
Ajoelhou, tem que rezar	Kneeled, has to pray	Finish what (you) started
Sem eira nem beira	Without land nor roof	Destitute
Bicho de sete cabeças	Seven-headed beast	Huge complication
Dar com os burros n'água	To get into water with the asses	To have a great frustration
Cair de quatro	To fall on fours	To be humbled and ridiculed
Comer o pão que o diabo amassou	To eat the bread the devil prepared	To suffer intolerably
Ouvir o galo cantar e não saber onde	To hear the rooster crowing without knowing where	To be clueless, or to succeed out of sheer luck
Ficar a ver navios	To be left watching the ships	To be left without nothing
Ser carta fora do baralho	To be a card out of the set	To be relegated to an irrelevant position
Cair de maduro	To fall because of being ripe	When something happens that was predictable for a long time
Cantar de galo	To crow as a rooster	To attempt to control something
Falar pelos cotovelos	To speak by the elbows	To speak too much
Olhar com o rabo do olho	To eye with the eye's tail	To look at someone briefly, obliquely
Lavar a égua	To wash the mare	To do something one had been desiring for a long time
Jogar água fora da bacia	To spill water out of the bowl	To be untrustful
Comer com os olhos	To eat with the eyes	To envy something (or someone) very much
Dar no couro	To beat the skin	To have sex (Brazil only)
Ficar de molho	To be soaking	To wait uncomfortably, to be put to rest against one's will (e.g. after an accident)
Dar o troco	To give back the change	To have a quick revenge
Dar a volta em	To walk around (someone)	To "milk" money from a gullible person
Chuta para canto	Kick it to corner	Don't worry about it
Pôr o rabo entre as pernas	To put one's tail between the legs	To withdraw from a position, usually with shame