Ei, galera! Tudo beleza? Hey guys! Are you alright?

If you are feeling hungry right now, you had better head over to the kitchen right now and have a snack before you start reading this post, because today’s post is going to go over expressions and proverbs in Portuguese connected to food. There are a number of them, which goes to show that our day to day metaphors are closely tied to our eating habits. Come on, it will be a piece of cake!

But first, you might want to check out these previous posts to practice some words related to meals and cooking:

Cooking vocab

 

Going to the supermarket

Snack Food in Portuguese

Expressions related to food in Portuguese

 

no frigir dos ovos

Literal translation: in the frying of the eggs

Meaning: “at the end of the day”, “when it comes down to it”

• Eles ficaram preocupados com o projeto, mas no frigir dos ovos tudo acabou dando certo | They were worried about the project, but at the end of the day, everything worked out just fine

a rapadura é doce mas não é mole

Literal translation: the panela is sweet, but it is not soft

Meaning: even though at a first glance things might seem great, achieving success was not an easy process

• -Vai viajar para a Europa nas férias de novo? Que vida boa você leva, ein? – Ah, a rapadura é doce mas não é mole não! | – Are you going to Europe on your vacation again? What an amazing life you have! – Oh, you don’t know how hard it was to get this far!

chorar as pitangas

Literal translation: to cry the Surinam cherries

Meaning: to feel upset about something, to complain a lot

• Ele passou o dia chorando as pitangas porque perdeu o emprego | He spent the whole day complaining because he lost his job
• Não adianta nada ficar aí chorando as pitangas e não agir | There is no point in moaning all day and not do anything about it

mandar às favas

Literal translation: to send everything to the beans

Meaning: to get rid of something that bothers you

• Mandei as boas maneiras às favas e fui embora sem me despedir | I got rid of my good manners and left without saying goodbye

de meia tigela

Literal translation: half-bowl

Meaning: something of little value, completely worthless

• Eu não confio naquele mecânico de meia-tigela, ele é incompetente demais | I don’t trust that crooked mechanic, he is too incompetent

o que não mata engorda

Literal translation: what doesn’t kill you makes you fatter

Meaning: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

• Vou comer mais uma fatia de bolo, afinal o que não mata, engorda! | I’m going to eat another slice of cake. After all, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Essa semana tem mais! There’s more to come this week!