Portuguese Language Blog

Salve, pessoal! Tudo bem?

After some time our colloquial Portuguese series is back and today we are going to learn some more cool and interesting expressions in Portuguese, you know, those expressions you won’t find in a regular dictionary or coursebook.

Estão prontos? Vamos lá!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download audio

O gato comeu sua língua? – The cat got your tongue?
Olha só quem está falando! – Look who’s talking!
O que adiantaria isso? – What good would that do?
O que deu em você? – What’s come over you?
O que eu ganho com isso? – What’s in it for me?
O que foi que você disse? – Come again?
O que há com você? – What’s with you? / What’s the matter with you?
O que você está aprontando / tramando? – What are you up to?
O que você quer dizer? – What do you mean?

Parabéns! (Muito bem!) – Well done!
Pára com isso! – Cut it out! Knock it off!
Pára de brincar! – Come off it!
Pega leve! – Take it easy!
Pelo amor de Deus! – For Christ’s/God’s sake!
Pé na tábua! – Step on it!
Pode apostar! – You bet! You can bet on it!
Primeiro as damas. – Ladies first.

Puxa vida! – Gee!
Qual é a graça? – What’s so funny?
Qual é o lance? – What’s the deal?
Qual é a pressa? – What’s the rush?
Quando o assunto é… / Quando se trata de… – When it comes to…
Que eu saiba… – As far as I know…
Que eu me lembre… – As far as I remember…
Que mundo pequeno! – Small world!

Check out parts 01, 02 and 03!

Want more free resources to learn Portuguese? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.

Olá! Tudo bem?

I rarely watch soap operas and one of these I was waiting for a friend to pick me up so we could go grab a beer and I turned on the TV. There was this comedic soap opera on and I ended up watching half hour of it.

Halfway through the first part one of the characters was complaining that she was having a hard time adjusting to his new job because “it just wasn’t his thing”. To say that something is “your thing” in Portuguese we can use the expression: ser a praia de alguém.

That actually means that “something isn’t your beach”, literally. I have no idea where that came from but it is widely used all over Brazil and it’s a very colorful and interesting expression. Let me give you some examples:

Eu sempre tirava nota ruim em Física e Química. Exatas nunca foram minha praia.
I would always get bad grades in Physics and Chemistry. The Exact Sciences were never my thing.

Se você mostrar esse livro de arte pro Pedro ele vai pirar, é a praia dele. Ele adora desenhar e pintar.
If you show Pedro this art book he’s going to flip, it’s his thing. He loves to draw and paint.

Montanha? Não é muito minha praia não, prefiro a cidade mesmo.
Mountains? Not my thing, really, I prefer the city.

You can also use this expression to show someone’s sexual orientation:

Mulher não é muito a praia dele não.
He’s not really into women.

If something is your thing, you like it very much, then you can also used the following verbs and expressions:

Eu curto muito andar de bicicleta à noite.
I really dig riding my bike in the evening.

Ah, se eu fosse você eu iria assistir esse filme. Certeza de que você vai curtir pra caramba.
Ah, if I were you I’d go watch that movie. I’m sure you’re going to dig it a lot.

Eu não sou muito de sair à noite. Prefiro ficar em casa, ver um DVD, pedir uma pizza.
I’m not very big on going out at night. I prefer to stay home, watch a DVD, order a pizza.

Ela não é muito de ficar com rodeios. Ela sempre abre o jogo.
She’s not very big on beating around the bush. She tells it like it it.

Então, qual é a sua praia?

Want more free resources to learn Portuguese? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.

E aí, tudo beleza com você?

I was at a party last weekend and I heard three people, at different times, say the expression “O escambáu!” and I went to look how to say that in English.

It turns out that O escambáu can be translated as My foot! Yes, it is a neutral informal expression and should be used only when you are among friends, not with your boss or someone older. Here are some example situations:

Your friend, who likes to brag about all the beautiful girls he hooks up with, comes up to you and says:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Cara, estou ficando com uma mina, maior gata! [Man, I've been hooking up with this chick, real babe!]

And you know the girl is not that beautiful so you say:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Gata o escambáu! Essa mina é uma baranga! [Babe my foot! This chick's frickin' ugly!]

Some more example dialogues:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A – Viu que o André tirou a maior nota da classe? Ele é um crânio! [Did you see that André got the highest grade in the class? He's super smart!]
B – Crânio o escambáu! Ele colou tudo do Rafael! [Super smart my foot! He copied everything from Rafael!]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A – Olha, você tem que cobrir a falta da Ana no trabalho amanhã. [Look, you need to fill in for Ana at work tomorrow.]
B – Tenho o escambáu! Ela que se vire porque eu vou viajar. [My foot I do! That's her problem because I'm going to travel.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A – Ele falou que ia vir me buscar de carro. [He said he was going to pick me up by car.]
B – Vir te buscar de carro o escambáu! Ele não tem onde cair morto![Pick you up by car my foot! He doesn't have a penny to his name!]

You probably will not find this expression in formal dictionaries because it is a feature of spoken Portuguese so whenever you hear this expression in movie and informal conversation, you will already know what it means!

Want more free resources to learn Portuguese? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.

Por hoje é só! Nos vemos em breve!