20 Brazilian Portuguese Idioms Locals Use Every Day
Brazilians fill their everyday speech with idioms that no textbook teaches: people swallow frogs, push things with their bellies, and travel in mayonnaise. Here are the 20 expressions you need to follow a real conversation.
You can master Portuguese conjugation tables and still get lost the moment a Brazilian friend says they spent the week "swallowing frogs" and finally decided to "take their little horse out of the rain." Welcome to Brazilian Portuguese idioms: vivid, funny, and completely essential for real conversations.
Here are 20 Brazilian Portuguese idioms with English translations that locals genuinely use every day, each with its literal image, real meaning, and an example you can copy.
Idioms About Frustration and Patience
1. Engolir sapo
Literal: To swallow a frog. Meaning: To put up with something unpleasant without complaining, usually to keep the peace.
Example: "No trabalho, às vezes a gente tem que engolir sapo." ("At work, sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.")
2. Tirar o cavalinho da chuva
Literal: To take the little horse out of the rain. Meaning: To give up on an idea; don't hold your breath. Said to crush someone's plans, affectionately.
Example: "Se você acha que vou cozinhar de novo hoje, pode tirar o cavalinho da chuva." ("If you think I'm cooking again today, you can forget about it.")
3. Empurrar com a barriga
Literal: To push with the belly. Meaning: To procrastinate; to keep postponing something you should deal with.
Example: "Ele vem empurrando a renovação do passaporte com a barriga há meses." ("He's been putting off renewing his passport for months.")
4. Chutar o balde
Literal: To kick the bucket. Meaning: Completely different from English: it means to lose your patience and give up caring about consequences.
Example: "Depois de três fins de semana trabalhando, ela chutou o balde e pediu férias." ("After three weekends working, she snapped and asked for vacation.")
5. Encher linguiça
Literal: To stuff sausage. Meaning: To pad with filler; to ramble to fill space, like stretching an essay with empty words.
Example: "O relatório tem vinte páginas, mas metade é só para encher linguiça." ("The report is twenty pages, but half of it is just filler.")
Idioms About Confusion and Trouble
6. Viajar na maionese
Literal: To travel in the mayonnaise. Meaning: To talk nonsense, be out of touch with reality, or daydream wildly. A modern classic.
Example: "Você acha que vai ficar rico com essa ideia? Tá viajando na maionese!" ("You think you'll get rich with that idea? You're dreaming!")
7. Pisar na bola
Literal: To step on the ball. Meaning: To mess up, to let someone down. Football country, football idioms.
Example: "Desculpa, pisei na bola por esquecer seu aniversário." ("Sorry, I dropped the ball by forgetting your birthday.")
8. Quebrar um galho
Literal: To break a branch. Meaning: To improvise a temporary fix or do someone a small favor; to help someone out of a tight spot.
Example: "Não tenho o carregador certo, mas esse aqui quebra um galho." ("I don't have the right charger, but this one will do the trick.")
9. Abacaxi
Literal: A pineapple. Meaning: A thorny problem, a mess no one wants to deal with. "Descascar um abacaxi" is to deal with that mess.
Example: "O projeto que herdei é um abacaxi daqueles." ("The project I inherited is a real can of worms.")
10. Procurar pelo em ovo
Literal: To look for hair on an egg. Meaning: To nitpick; to look for problems where there are none.
Example: "O apartamento é ótimo, para de procurar pelo em ovo." ("The apartment is great, stop looking for problems.")
Want to actually hear these in action? Our stories set in Brazil's cities are written in the everyday Portuguese locals speak, idioms included, with translations so you never get lost in the mayonnaise.
Discover Brazilian Urban Chronicles
Idioms About People and Attitudes
11. Mão de vaca
Literal: Cow's hand. Meaning: A cheapskate, someone extremely stingy.
Example: "Ele é tão mão de vaca que divide até o cafezinho." ("He's such a tightwad that he even splits the cost of a small coffee.")
12. Cara de pau
Literal: Wooden face. Meaning: Shameless, someone with a lot of nerve.
Example: "Que cara de pau pedir dinheiro emprestado de novo!" ("What nerve, asking to borrow money again!")
13. Amigo da onça
Literal: Friend of the jaguar. Meaning: A false friend; the friend who gets you into trouble or roots against you.
Example: "Ele contou meu segredo para todo mundo. Grande amigo da onça!" ("He told everyone my secret. Some friend he turned out to be!")
14. Bom de papo
Literal: Good at chat. Meaning: A smooth talker, someone fun and easy to talk to. "Papo" (chat) is core Brazilian vocabulary.
Example: "O vendedor era bom de papo, quase compro duas TVs." ("The salesman was a smooth talker, I almost bought two TVs.")
15. Pão-duro
Literal: Hard bread. Meaning: Another beloved word for stingy. Brazilians have many, which tells you something.
Example: "Não seja pão-duro, deixa uma gorjeta melhor." ("Don't be cheap, leave a better tip.")
Idioms for Everyday Situations
16. Dar um jeitinho
Literal: To find a little way. Meaning: The famous "jeitinho brasileiro": finding a creative, informal solution to any problem. Deeply cultural.
Example: "O restaurante estava lotado, mas o garçom deu um jeitinho de arranjar uma mesa." ("The restaurant was packed, but the waiter found a way to get us a table.")
17. Ficar de molho
Literal: To stay soaking (like beans). Meaning: To rest at home recovering, usually from illness or injury.
Example: "Torci o tornozelo e vou ficar de molho uma semana." ("I sprained my ankle and I'll be resting for a week.")
18. Segurar vela
Literal: To hold the candle. Meaning: To be the third wheel with a couple.
Example: "Não vou jantar com vocês dois para ficar segurando vela." ("I'm not going to dinner with you two just to be the third wheel.")
19. Custar os olhos da cara
Literal: To cost the eyes of the face. Meaning: To cost an arm and a leg.
Example: "Esse celular novo custa os olhos da cara." ("That new phone costs an arm and a leg.")
20. Estar com a faca e o queijo na mão
Literal: To have the knife and the cheese in hand. Meaning: To have everything you need to succeed; to hold all the cards.
Example: "Com essa proposta, você está com a faca e o queijo na mão." ("With that offer, you hold all the cards.")
From Recognizing Idioms to Using Them
Idioms are the difference between understanding Portuguese and understanding Brazilians. Three tips to make them yours:
- Start with the big five: engolir sapo, dar um jeitinho, pisar na bola, viajar na maionese, quebrar um galho. They cover half of daily life.
- Watch for the cultural logic. Food, football, and improvisation dominate Brazilian idioms; noticing the pattern helps you guess new ones.
- Read real dialogue. Our travel stories in Brazilian Portuguese put this exact language into narratives, and the 100 essential phrases for traveling in Brazil cover the practical side of your next trip.
Building your Portuguese vocabulary more broadly? Continue with our guides to the 20 essential Brazilian Portuguese verbs and 30 essential Brazilian Portuguese adjectives.
Agora você está com a faca e o queijo na mão. Boa sorte!