estar com água na boca
Meaning: Feel eager anticipation or desire, especially for food or something pleasant.
Language: Portuguese
Literally: to have water in the mouth
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: "Água" and "boca" both descend directly from Latin — aqua and bucca — and the idiom describes a real, involuntary physiological reflex rather than any historical event or story: seeing or even just imagining something appetizing genuinely triggers increased salivation before a single bite is taken. Because the reflex itself is universal and immediately recognizable to anyone who has ever felt hungry looking at food, versions of the same image appear independently across many unrelated languages — Italian's acqua in bocca uses identical wording for an entirely different meaning, keeping quiet rather than craving food, a reminder that shared physical vocabulary doesn't guarantee a shared idiom.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Bir fincan kahvenin kırk yıl hatırı vardır — Sharing coffee creates lasting bonds and social connections that endure for decades.
- أكل العيش والملح مع شخص (Akal al-'aysh wal-milh ma'a shakhs) — Shared intimate bond or deep friendship forged through shared hardship and simple living…
- take the biscuit — to be the most outrageous or remarkable thing; to win or excel.
- spill the tea — to reveal gossip or scandalous information.
- not worth your salt — incompetent; not deserving of wages or respect.
- bring home the bacon — to provide income; to succeed in earning money.
More Portuguese idioms
- 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.
- Encher linguiça — To pad something out with filler to take up space or time.
- Nem que a vaca tussa — No way; under no circumstances.