Brazil is widely known as the country of football. The sport is a national passion and we are famous all across the globe for our talented players and teams. Football is definitely the most popular in our nation and it and an intrinsic part of our culture. Maybe that can explain the number of idiomatic expressions that have the word “ball” in them. Today, we are going to take a look into some of those terms and their definitions, so let’s play ball!

Pisar na bola: to “step on the ball” – to disappoint someone, to screw up

• Marcelo pisou na bola por ter esquecido de levar cerveja para o churrasco (Marcelo screwed up when he forgot to bring beer to the barbecue)
• Conto com você na reunião segunda que vem. Não pise na bola dessa vez! (I count on you for the presentation next Monday. Don’t disappoint me this time!)

Dar bola: to “give ball” – to pay attention to somebody, to flirt

• Não dê bola pros comentários do Lúcio, ele está de mau humor hoje (Don’t pay attention to Lúcio’s comments, he’s in a bad mood today)
• Ele me deu bola a noite toda, então decidi beijar ele (He flirted with me all night, so I decided to kiss him)

Show de bola: “show of ball” – something spetacular, amazing, really great

• Nossa viagem para o Rio de Janeiro no feriado foi show de bola! (Our trip to Rio de Janeiro on the holiday was amazing!)
• A caipirinha daquele barzinho é show de bola. (The caipirinha at the bar is really great!)

Estar/ficar bolado: to be “balled” – to be intrigued and surprised, to be upset or pissed

• Você vai ficar bolado só porque perdeu o vôo? (Are you going to be upset just because you missed your flight?)
• Ainda estou bolada com a notícia que ela me contou. (I’m still surprised by the news she told me)

A bola da vez: “ball of the turn” – something that is the hot issue at the moment, the next big thing

• O novo álbum da Adele parece ser a bola da vez. (Adele’s new album is the next big thing)
• Saias longas vão ser a bola da vez nas passarelas essa estação. (Maxi skirts are going to be the next big thing on the runways this season)

Com a bola toda: “with the whole ball” – to be full of yourself, to be confident

• Depois de ganhar aquele prêmio a Paula está com a bola toda. (After winning that award, Paula is full of herself)
• A chefe elogiou o desempenho do Cristiano ontem e ele ficou com a bola toda. (The boss praised Cristiano’s performance yesterday and he got very confident)

Trocar as bolas: to “exchange the balls” – to get confused, to make a mistake

• Eu troquei as bolas e acabei dando parabéns para a pessoa errada no escritório (I got confused and said happy birthday to the wrong person at the office)
• Fui parar no restaurante errado porque o taxista trocou as bolas (I ended up in the wrong restaurant because the cab driver got confused)

Bola pra frente: “ball to the front” – to move forward, to go on

• Não faz sentido ficar pensando no seu passado com a Maria. Agora é bola pra frente! (There’s no point in reminiscing about your past with Maria. Now it’s time to move forward!)
• Pena que a sua ideia de abrir um restaurante não deu certo, mas bola pra frente, em breve você pensa em uma nova ideia de negócio (Too bad your idea to open up a new restaurant didn’t work out, but let’s move forward, soon you’ll come up with a new business idea)

Baixar a bola: to “lower the ball” – to be humble, to play it cool, to take it easy

• O professor Marcos é tão convencido às vezes! Ele precisa baixar a bola. (Professor Marcos is so conceited sometimes. He needs to be more humble)
• A Laurinha está ficando empolgada demais com essa viagem para Paris, ela tem que baixar a bola. (Laurinha is getting way to excited about this trip to Paris, she has to take it easy)

Did you enjoy it? After you practice, you won’t drop the ball!