10 Portuguese funny phrases
QUEIMAR AS PESTANAS
If you’re a geek who’s been hitting the books hard, you might hear this phrase, which translates as “burn the eyelashes”.
ÁGUA PELA BARBA
When something is frustrating you, or causing too much hard work, it’s “water in the beard”.
ENGOLIR SAPOS
Ever had to do something you’ve not wanted to do? The Portuguese describe it as “swallowing frogs”.
VAI PENTEAR MACACOS!
Find us a more surreal way to tell someone to get lost than “go comb monkeys!”
MUITOS ANOS A VIRAR FRANGOS
If someone has a lot of experience, you might say they have “many years of turning chickens”.
ESTAR COM OS AZEITES
To be angry or upset is, naturally, to “be with the olive oils”.
BARATA TONTA
We might say someone is running about like a headless chicken, but in Portugal, they’re “a dizzy cockroach”.
FALAR PELOS COTOVELOS
A chatterbox, who we say talks nineteen to the dozen, is said to “speak by the elbows”.
MACACOS ME MORDAM!
Those pesky monkeys are back, this time to help you express surprise – this means “monkeys are biting me”.
À SOMBRA DA BANANEIRA
Someone who rests on their laurels a bit too much is “under the shade of a banana tree”.