de vez em nunca
Meaning: very rarely; almost never.
Language: Portuguese
Literally: of time in never
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Origin uncertain; the phrase creates an intentional paradox by pairing 'time' (suggesting recurrence) with 'never' to express extreme rarity.
More idioms — Daily Life
- cuspir no prato que comeu — to betray or show ingratitude toward someone who has helped you.
- a fio — uninterruptedly or continuously without stopping.
- comprar briga — to intentionally provoke a quarrel or confrontation with someone.
- nascer em berço de ouro — to be born into wealth and privilege; to come from a rich family.
- colocar o carro à frente dos bois — To have the wrong priorities or do things in the wrong order.
- descer a lenha — To harshly criticize or scold someone severely.
More Portuguese idioms
- arrastar pela lama — to publicly humiliate or damage someone's reputation.
- sem tamanho — enormous, immensely large.
- há algo de podre no reino da Dinamarca — something is deeply wrong or suspicious, though the truth may be hidden.
- ombro a ombro — On equal terms, standing together as peers.
- do dia para a noite — Very suddenly or extremely quickly.
- vaca sagrada — Something so valued or protected that it cannot be criticized, changed, or harmed.
From our tongue twisters
- A aranha arranha a rã. A rã arranha a aranha. — Contrasts the soft single r of aranha against the hard rolled rr of arranha — one letter…
- O rato roeu a roupa do rei de Roma; a rainha com raiva roeu o resto. — An unstoppable 'r' trill drill — every key word begins or ends with the Portuguese r.
- Um tigre, dois tigres, três tigres tristes triscam trigo num trigal. — A 'tr' cluster drill that adds a sad adjective to make the alliteration worse.