IdiomFood & Drink
Portuguese
PortugueseProcurar pelo em ovo
Meaning: To nitpick over nothing.
Literally: To look for hair on an egg
Example: “O revisor procura pelo em ovo até nas vírgulas.” — The proofreader splits hairs even over the commas.
English equivalent: To split hairs
Origin: An egg has no hair, so looking for one on it is searching for a flaw that is not there. Spanish has the same picture in buscarle pelos al huevo. No particular story lies behind it.
Equivalents in other languages
French: Couper les cheveux en quatre Literally: To cut hair in four- French: Chercher midi à quatorze heures Literally: To look for noon at two in the afternoon
Spanish: Buscarle tres pies al gato Literally: To look for three feet on the cat
Turkish: Armudun sapı var, üzümün çöpü var Literally: The pear has a stalk, the grape has a seed
English: split hairs- French: Enculer les mouches Literally: To sodomize flies
More Portuguese idioms
- 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.
- Chorar de barriga cheia To complain when you have nothing to complain about.
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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