Proverbs and Idioms vocabulary Provérbios e Expressões Idiomáticas

8 Portuguese words on the topic of proverbs and idioms — with pictures, audio recordings and example sentences. Expressions not understood by words alone — with the English equivalent.

English	Portuguese · Português	Notes
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush	mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando	The comparison uses do que ('than'). Note pássaro with double s, pronounced as a plain 's'.
where there's smoke, there's fire	onde há fumaça, há fogo	há = 'there is' (from haver); fumaça is the Brazilian word for smoke. 🇵🇹 PortugalIn Portugal: fumo.
barking dogs don't bite	cachorro que late não morde	In Brazil cachorro is the everyday word for dog (cão is more formal); a puppy is filhote.
kill two birds with one stone	matar dois coelhos com uma cajadada só	Literally 'kill two rabbits with one club-blow'. A cajado is a shepherd's staff.
cost an arm and a leg	custar os olhos da cara	Literally 'to cost the eyes of the face' — cf. English 'an arm and a leg'. custar = to cost.
don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today	não deixe para amanhã o que você pode fazer hoje	deixar = to leave / put off; the x sounds like 'sh'. Negative commands use the subjunctive: não deixe.
better late than never	mais vale tarde do que nunca	mais vale = 'better is...'; note the comparative do que ('than').
silence is golden	em boca fechada não entram moscas	Literally 'flies don't enter a closed mouth'. entram is plural, agreeing with moscas (the subject follows the verb).