13 English expressions that would be very confusing in Portuguese

There are several phrases and expressions from the Portuguese language that are untranslatable into other languages. But have you ever stopped to think about terms in English that, if translated literally, are almost impossible to understand?

Maybe you’ve already found some of these catchphrases on the internet or heard someone talking close to you and literally got your jaws dropped – after all, you must not have understood bluffs.

Thinking about it, the awesome.club gathered some expressions from the English language that are not easy to understand if we don’t know their meaning. Come with us and learn a little more about the language.

Although the expression is quite strange and seems like a tongue twister to us, know that the meaning is very curious and would not cross our minds so soon – since it looks like a game name or something indecipherable. The word is nothing more than a mathematical notation for the eighth power of a number — hence its peculiar name.

Maybe you’ve wondered, but what does digital omnivore mean? A type of digitized dinosaur? Wait for us to explain! These are people who love to spend time on their technological devices, such as cell phones, computers or tablets, and they are with them all the time, accessing various things on different electronic devices at a certain time of the day.

One thing beyond curious is the candle salad, which is literally what the phrase itself says. Yes, it is a fruit or vegetable salad with a type of candle made from some fruit, placed over the salad. Will this fashion catch on in Brazil?

Maybe these phrases crossed your mind: “How can a goose be able to be a guard? Hey?” And yes, we were confused too, but know that the expression is really what is meant — guard geese are domesticated to protect farms or other places. Almost a dog that quacks.

In many formal jobs, the expression “brainstorm” is used and, most of the time, we don’t even think about what that really means, we just follow the flow of work and participate in meetings. But what if we told you that the literal translation of the word is something like “brain storm”? Although there is no faithful translation and it is not at all what the word suggests, the brainstorm is when people discuss ideas to reach a conclusion, something like “two heads are more than one”.

Have you ever thought if one day you travel to a place where the mother tongue is English and you hear the expression “It’s a piece of cake”? Theoretically, you would be confused when translating to “it’s a piece of cake” and seeing that the person doesn’t have the food in their hands. But stay calm, the meaning of the phrase is: “this is a piece of cake”, literally.

Leaving the cat out of the bag, what do you mean, Brazil? Yes, this expression exists in the English language and, like the others mentioned above, does not have a literal translation. However, when we look at the description of the catchphrase, we can translate it into Portuguese as “to spill the beans” or “tell some secret that should not be revealed”.

Steal comes from the verb to steal and thunder means thunder. For good connoisseurs of Portuguese, if we put the two words together we will have something like stealing thunder, which makes no sense in our mother tongue, when in fact it means stealing someone’s idea. In the mid-1700s, playwright John Dennis realized that the idea for his thunder machine had been stolen and used in the play Mcbeth, and that’s where that expression came from.

Another sentence beyond confusing… But make no mistake, understand the context with us. According to the dictionary, you can use this expression for that person who keeps going around, stalling, and who never goes straight to the point.

This expression reminds us of dogs that often stop in front of a tree and start barking just like that. But this has nothing to do with the true meaning of the phrase. The true translation would be something like “knocking on the wrong door”, “failing at something”, because, like the dogs, we also make the mistake of “barking” at the wrong gate, if you know what we mean.

The phrase “it costs an arm and a leg” is very popular in our country, but know that it also exists in the English language and, in literal translation, would be “it costs an arm and a leg”. Well, maybe these bodily limbs cost more than our eyes in other countries.

Here in Brazil, when we finish a job or finish something, we simply say that the service is complete — or some other phrase depending on the region where you live — but abroad they usually say “call it a day”, whose translation would be “call it during the day”. It’s pretty confusing, right? However, now that you know what it means, you won’t be bewildered when you hear this catchphrase.

A couch potato is also jaw-dropping, wondering what it could mean and, no, it’s not a couch potato. The expression refers to people who spend all day on the couch watching television and eating unhealthy foods. And you, are you also a “couch potato” (couch potato)?

Have you ever come across any of these phrases we quote? Do you know any curious expressions that we forgot to mention? tell the awesome.club in the comments 😉.