IdiomNature
Portuguese
Portuguesedo dia para a noite
Meaning: Very suddenly or extremely quickly.
Literally: From the day to the night
Example: “A pequena padaria ficou famosa do dia para a noite.” — The little bakery became famous overnight.
Origin: Day turns into night in a matter of moments at dusk, so something that changes "from day to night" changes all at once. The phrase means suddenly, overnight, and has no particular story behind it.
More Portuguese idioms
- vaca sagrada Something so valued or protected that it cannot be criticized, changed, or harmed.
- morrer de rir To laugh very hard or uproariously.
- descer a lenha To harshly criticize or scold someone severely.
- a essa altura do campeonato At this late stage; now that things have gone this far.
- pegar o jeito to learn how to do something; to acquire skill or proficiency.
- botar defeito to criticize something excessively or find fault where none reasonably exists.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- 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.
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