IdiomAnimals
Portuguese
PortuguesePagar mico
Meaning: To embarrass yourself publicly.
Literally: To pay monkey
Example: “Paguei mico ao cantar no karaokê sem saber a letra.” — I ended up with egg on my face singing karaoke without knowing the words.
English equivalent: To have egg on your face
Origin: From the Brazilian children's card game jogo do mico, said to have been made in Brazil since the 1950s: players make pairs of male and female animals, but the mico (a small monkey, the marmoset) has no partner, and whoever is left holding it at the end loses. "Paying the monkey" became being embarrassed in public. This is the standard explanation, though no source dates the phrase itself.
Equivalents in other languages
English: To have egg on your face
Russian: оставаться в дураках (ostavat'sya v durakakh) Literally: To remain in the fools
More Portuguese idioms
- Procurar pelo em ovo To nitpick over nothing.
- Ficar a ver navios To be left disappointed and empty-handed.
- Onde Judas perdeu as botas In the middle of nowhere; the back of beyond.
- Acertar na mosca To be exactly right; to hit the bullseye.
- Dar com os burros n'água To fail despite all your effort.
- Tirar o pai da forca Said of something done in frantic urgency.
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