IdiomDaily Life
Portuguese
Portugueseà toa
Meaning: To drift aimlessly or act without purpose or direction.
Literally: On the towrope
Example: “Passámos a tarde à toa, a ver os barcos no rio.” — We spent the afternoon idly watching the boats on the river.
Origin: From sailing, as Brazilian language columns explain: the toa was the towrope by which one boat pulls another, and a vessel à toa (on the towrope) had no course of its own and went wherever it was dragged. The phrase came to mean aimlessly, idly, or for no reason. The related verb atoar (to tow) is a seafaring term, though its own origin is uncertain.
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