Comboio boat mar bed praia tea

Two friends of mine were having a conversation. I was listening intently because it was in Portuguese. And because it was spoken with elision, allusion and enthusiasm, I was getting the gist without the detail until this phrase stood out: eles perderam o comboio (they missed the train). It referred to being slow to decide and as a consequence missing an opportunity. I interrupted to check, and yes, my friends said, it did mean the same as they missed the boat. I loved the way the two phrases, in the two languages, shared the same structure and differed in just one detail: miss the boat or miss the train.

Here’s three more pairs:

A vida não é um mar de rosas. Life's no bed of roses.

Não é a minha praia. It’s not my cup of tea.

Ela pôs uma pedra na engrenagem. She put a spanner in the works.

Dois amigos meus estavam a conversar. Eu estava a ouvir atentamente porque era em português. E como eles falaram rapidamente e com vigor, eu percebi só o essencial sem o pormenor, até que esta ditado se destacou: eles perderam o comboio. Interrompi para verificar e, sim, os meus amigos disseram que significava que alguem demorava a decidir e, por isso, a perdeu a oportunidade, exatamento o mesmo que o ditado ingles they missed the boat. Adorei a forma como as duas frases, em ambas as línguas, partilhavam a mesma estrutura e diferiam apenas num pormenor: perderam o comboio ou perderam o barco.

Aqui estão mais tres pares:

Life's no bed of roses. A vida não é um mar de rosas.

It’s not my cup of tea. Não é a minha praia.

She put a spanner in the works. Ela pôs uma pedra na engrenagem.

Comments

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Living not at home

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