IdiomDaily Life
Portuguese
PortuguesePisar na bola
Meaning: To mess up or let someone down.
Literally: To step on the ball
Example: “Esqueci o aniversário dela; pisei feio na bola.” — I forgot her birthday; I really dropped the ball.
English equivalent: To drop the ball
Origin: From football: a player who steps on the ball instead of kicking it loses control and blows the play. Brazilian linguists list it among the many idioms that passed from the sport into everyday speech, where it means making a blunder or letting someone down. Its first use is not documented.
Equivalents in other languages
Greek: Τα έκανε θάλασσα Literally: He turned it all into a sea
Romanian: A o da în bară Literally: To hit it into the post
Spanish: No dar pie con bola Literally: To not give foot to ball
English: drop the ball- English: make a hash of something
More Portuguese idioms
- Encher linguiça To pad something out with filler to take up space or time.
- Nem que a vaca tussa No way; under no circumstances.
- Tirar o cavalo da chuva To give up on an expectation.
- Pagar mico To embarrass yourself publicly.
- Procurar pelo em ovo To nitpick over nothing.
- Ficar a ver navios To be left disappointed and empty-handed.
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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