30 English Phrases Everyone Should Know

In Portuguese there are many phrases that are capable of driving foreigners crazy who do not understand their meaning and can only translate them literally. English speakers also have these expressions and use them in everyday speech.

So that your communication with English-speaking foreigners is not limited to “nice to meet you“, O awesome.club chose 30 popular phrases you should know.

“Spill the tea” — is used when you want to know something about some circumstance, an equivalent could be “Spit it out!”.

“For a song” — means free of charge or at very low cost.

🇧🇷Strike oil” — achieve success, receive a sudden gain.

“Monkeyshines” — suspicious behavior.

“Chicken sleeping” — when you fall asleep on the road and your head starts moving from side to side.

“hammy” — an over-the-top actor or over-acting.

“Week of Sundays” – for all eternity.

“Ear Basher” — in British English, it means nonstop talker. In American English, the phrase is earbender.

“Microwait” — the long line that forms to use the microwave at the office because everyone needs to heat their food.

“Let one’s hair down” — let the situation flow, do it calmly.

🇧🇷skinny love — when two people like each other but are too embarrassed to admit it.

“Killin’ it” — doing something really well, becoming a legend in the process of achieving something.

“Easy come, easy go” – what comes around goes around. This is a frequently used variant in the Portuguese language.

“Drive somebody nuts” — drive someone crazy, cause frustration.

“No cap” — an analogy to the phrase “tell me the truth”, it is used in speech before some kind of important question.

“red flag” — this is another analogy to the expression “first sign”, a premise for the appearance of one or another situation.

“Goof off” — doing nothing, wasting time in the most unproductive ways.

“Sugarcoat” — embellishing reality, “sweetening” something.

“Do you need a lift?” “Do you need me to take you?” Need a ride?

“Pour cold water on” — ruin the party, put an end to something. In Portuguese it is used as “To throw a bucket of cold water”.

“Open a can of worms” — an analogy to the expression “to add fuel to the fire”, to make something worse by your actions or words. “Extinguish fire with gasoline” is also used.

“Spread too thin” — working on multiple projects at the same time and feeling exhausted by it.

“Dressed to the nines / to the teeth” — an analogy to the phrase “dressing in silk” dressing to perfection, with a lot of class.

“Put on the dog” — show off, trying to appear better than you really are. Making a show of wealth or importance, especially by dressing stylishly and conspicuously.

“Go-by” – ignore / “Give someone the go-by” — ignore someone.

“Blow hot air” — boasting about something without having any evidence. Talking too much with empty speech.

“Fat chance” — an analogue of “it is unlikely”, a small hope of success.

“Emojency” — is composed of the word emergency and emoji, it describes a situation where you immediately need an emoji that corresponds to some specific meaning, but cannot find it in any way.

“Kanak attack” — feeling of laziness one gets after overeating.

🇧🇷Butter bread on both sides” — to live in a good, comfortable way.

If you know of other phrases that English speakers often use, share them with us in the comments.