11 Idioms 160, Portuguese: 4 with a form of “conta”, 3 with a form of “contra”, 2 with a form of “contínuo” 1 with “contesta??o” and 1 with “contexto”
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
![Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI]()
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
US Certified Court Interpreter 1980 / Ph.D. Spanish Portuguese 1981 / 24 years university professor / Estimates: 12,000+ depositions, hearings, etc. / 850 trials / 3000 documents / Conference Interpreter 650 conferences
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Following are 11 idioms in Portuguese followed by a literal translation in brackets and then the semantic translation(s) without brackets to English.
a conta-gotas [the drop counter]: 1) in dribs and drabs; 2) on a piecemeal basis
?contar com o ovo no cu da galinha [count with the egg / your ball in the chicken's ass]: count your chickens (before they're hatched)
?contar-se pelos dedos [be counted on your fingers]: be counted on the fingers of one hand
?contar vantagem [count advantage]: bragging about
?sem contesta??o [without dispute]: indisputably
?um caso interpretado fora do contexto [an event interpreted outside of its context]: a matter taken out of context
?continua tudo na mesma [everything continues the same]: everything is at it was before
?ato contínuo [continuous action]: immediately afterwards
?contra tudo e contra todos [against everything and everybody]: against everything and everybody, no matter what
?ser do contra [be of those against]: be in the opposite camp
?só para ser do contra [only to be against]: just to annoy
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