Hello, Street Smart Brazil’s fans. I am going to teach you guys a very cool expression that you are likely to hear pretty often here in Brazil. The expression is pisar em ovos, which literally means “to step on eggs” or “to walk on eggs”. The meaning of the expression comes from the idea that someone is walking over eggs and needs to be very careful not to break the eggs. I will show you two different ways to use this expression.
1. The most common way to use the expression pisar em ovos is to indicate that someone is doing something very carefully, usually to avoid creating a problem or making someone else upset.
- Meu chefe é muito explosivo. Nós precisamos pisar em ovos para dar qualquer feedback a ele.
= My boss has a bad temper. We need to be very careful to give him any feedback.
- Minha empresa demitiu um monte de gente e ainda vai demitir mais outro bocado. Estamos todos pisando em ovos.
= My company has laid off a lot of people and will still lay off another bunch. We are all acting very carefully.
2. The expression pisar em ovos can also be used to refer to someone who is taking too long to get somewhere or to do something.
- Maria, o que aconteceu? Eu disse para você chegar aqui às 8:00. Já são 9 horas. Você estava pisando em ovos?
= Maria, what happened? I told you to get here at 8. It is 9 already. Were you walking on eggs?
- Vamos, Marcos. Estamos atrasados! Você está pisando em ovos, é?
= Let’s go, Marcos. We are running late! Are you stepping on eggs?
Have fun using your new Brazilian Portuguese colloquial expression!
This blog post was written by a guest contributor Marcelo Alves.
————
Schedule your Portuguese Trial Lesson.
Street Smart Brazil offers one-on-one and group classes online via webcam. We have a fantastic team of tutors, exclusive class materials, and complete programs from absolute beginner to fluent. See what our customers are saying.
Leave a Reply