Bem-Vindo!

Please login, or 

Register a new account.

Did You Know . . .

Street Smart Brazil offers 

Lessons via Webcam

Learn Portuguese from anywhere!

 

Follow stsmartbrazil on Twitter RSS FEED

Our Partners

Estilo Bay
Mercado Brasil
SF Brazilian Portuguese Meetup
South Bay Brazilian Portuguese Meetup
Learn the World Travel

You are hereForums / Language / Slang / poxa vida

Forum Inactive

You can search our forum, but it is no longer active. Please post your questions on our Facebook community where you will find colloquial vocabulary, music, events, and news about Brazil.

Sincerely, the Street Smart Brazil team.

poxa vida

2 replies [Last post]
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 13:37
Species
User offline. Last seen 32 weeks 6 days ago. Offline
Joined: 11/01/2009
Posts: 120
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF version

Hey I have a few friends I write to in Portuguese, they help me out a lot but sometimes I have to translate some of their expressions but I thought some of these might be helpful to some other people, so here's a few I came across in the last couple of days.
Poxa vida = wow - I think it's a pretty big wow though :)
Mais dia, menos dia = sooner or later
But this one, I sort of understand... maybe someone could translate it a little better.
Pesa a mao = weighs the hand (literally) in the conversation it made sense but I don't know how to translate it properly
 

Share this

Your signature will be publicly displayed at the end of your comments.

Top
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 12:30
#1
Luciana Lage
User offline. Last seen 12 hours 41 min ago. Offline
Prof
Joined: 08/08/2009
Posts: 362

Obrigada for this, Species.
Poxa vida can mean different emotions:

  • Poxa vida! The bus is late again (the person is impatient or irritated)
  • Poxa vida, I really wanted to see that concert, but I was out of town that day. (the person is sad or disappointed)

We also say "puxa vida".
When we say only "puxa" or "poxa", it can mean surprise:

  • Poxa, what a great raise you got. Congrats!

Pesar a mão or pesar na mão = to overdo or overuse something

  • I asked for a light makeup, but the hairdresser pesou a mão and made it really strong.
  • The food is good, but eu pesei a mão no sal; it is a bit too salty.
  • To make a point in a heated argument you need to choose your words right. Se você pesar na mão and say the wrong words in the wrong way, things may just get more complicated.

I hope that helps! Thanks for posting this :)

Luciana Lage

Top
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 19:48
#2
Species
User offline. Last seen 32 weeks 6 days ago. Offline
Joined: 11/01/2009
Posts: 120

Oh ok,
Poxa vida sounds like Ainda bem but it's "negative cousin" so to speak....
Thanks for the translation!

Your signature will be publicly displayed at the end of your comments.

Top

Active Topics

more

If you are ready to speak Portuguese, call 415-573-8180 or e-mail info@streetsmartbrazil.com to schedule a FREE 30-minute demo class and to learn about rates.