estar com a corda no pescoço
Meaning: Be in serious financial or personal trouble with no easy escape.
Language: Portuguese
Literally: to be with the rope around the neck
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Comes directly from public execution by hanging, where the condemned stood with the rope already fitted around their neck in the final moments before the sentence was carried out — the single most literal, immediate image of imminent, inescapable doom available. The phrase's figurative use draws specifically on the dramatic tension of a last-minute reprieve or pardon arriving right at that exact moment, when the noose was already in place and the executioner's hand was the only thing left standing between the condemned and death. Applied today to financial desperation, workplace pressure, or any other urgent crisis, the phrase keeps that same sense of a threat that has moved past merely looming and is now, quite literally, already touching the person it threatens.
Equivalents in other languages
- English: up the creek without a paddle — literally: up the creek without a paddle
- French: Être dans de beaux draps — literally: To be in fine sheets
- Czech: Být v rejži — literally: To be in the rice
More idioms — Body & Senses
- give someone the cold shoulder — to deliberately treat someone with indifference or ignore them.
- wear your heart on your sleeve — to display emotions openly; to be transparent about feelings.
- have the wool pulled over your eyes — to be deceived or fooled.
- lower your guard — to relax defenses; to become vulnerable.
- fit as a fiddle — in excellent physical condition; healthy.
- keep your chin up — to remain optimistic; to stay courageous during difficulty.
More Portuguese idioms
- meter os pés pelas mãos — Make a clumsy mistake or bungle something badly through carelessness.
- estar com água na boca — Feel eager anticipation or desire, especially for food or something pleasant.
- Viajar na maionese — To talk nonsense or drift off into your own dream world.
- Chutar o balde — To stop caring and let everything go — unlike the English, nobody dies.
- Enfiar o pé na jaca — To overdo it wildly, especially with food or drink.
- Pisar na bola — To mess up or let someone down.
From our proverbs
- If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your own path — Helping others ultimately benefits yourself as well.
- A bad workman always blames his tools — Incompetent people blame external factors for their failures instead of taking responsibi…
- There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience — Peace of mind and restful sleep come only from living and acting honorably.