SOME CURIOUS EXPRESSIONS USED BY PORTUGUESE PEOPLE:

— A Portuguese doesn’t have a problem, in fact, he’s ‘feito ao bife’ (made to the steak).

— A Portuguese doesn’t tell you to leave him alone, he tells you ‘vai chatear o Camões’ (go and bother Camões).

— A Portuguese doesn’t tell you he’s sexy, he tells you ‘é boa como o milho’ (it’s good as corn).

— A Portuguese does not repeat what he says, he ‘vira o disco e toca o mesmo’ (turns the record and plays the same).

— A Portuguese is never bored, he just ‘fica com os azeites’ (stays with the olive oil).

— A Portuguese doesn’t have much experience, he has ‘muitos anos a virar frangos’ (many years turning chickens).

— A Portuguese doesn’t get out of trouble, he ‘sacode a água do capote’ (shakes the water out of his cloak).

— A Portuguese is not in a desperate situation, he has ‘água pela barba’ (water by the beard).

— A Portuguese doesn’t get angry, he ‘vai aos arames’ (goes to the wires).

— A Portuguese who changes his mind easily is an ‘troca-tintas’ (ink-changer).

— A Portuguese is not brazen, he ‘tem lata’ (has can).

— A Portuguese does not refuse to give information, he ‘fecha-se em copas’ (closes himself in hearts).

— A Portuguese doesn’t die, he ‘estica o pernil’ (stretches his ham).

— A Portuguese does not pretend to be deaf, he ‘faz orelhas moucas’ (makes his ears deaf).

— A Portuguese does not say that everything is suspended indefinitely, he says that ‘ficou tudo em águas de bacalhau’ (everything was left in codfish water).

— A Portuguese doesn’t say ‘It’s indifferent to me’, he says ‘Não me aquece nem me arrefece’ (Neither warms or colds me).

— A Portuguese person did not go through difficult situations, he ‘passou as passas do Algarve’ (passed the raisins of the Algarve).