Portuguese Proverbs II

E

* "É como trocar seis por meia dúzia."
o Translation: "It's like exchanging six for half a dozen."
o Used to complain against a change without practical results.

* "É de pequenino que se torce o pepino."
o Translation: "It's when it's small that the cucumber gets warped."
o Bad habits acquired during early life last long.
o Children should learn good habits from a tender age.

* "É difícil agradar a Gregos e Troianos."
o Translation: It´s hard to please both Greeks and Trojans.
o Variation: "Não se pode agradar a Gregos e a Troianos".
o Translation: You can't please both Greeks and Trojans.
o Meaning: You can't please everybody.
o Equivalence: You can't have it both ways.

* É mais fácil apanhar um mentiroso do que um coxo"
o Translation: "It's easier to catch a liar than a limping person"
o Usage: About liars uncovered, or when you suspect you're going to uncover one.

* "É melhor não cutucar onça com vara curta." (Brazil)
o Translation: "It's better not to poke a jaguar with a short staff."
o Equivalence: "Let sleeping dogs lie."
o Equivalence: "To sup with the Devil, use a long spoon."
o Meaning: Don't get yourself uselessly into risky situations.

* "Em Abril águas mil."
o Translation: "In April, thousands of water."
o Meaning: A weather proverb: it usually rains a lot in April in Portugal.

* "Em boca fechada não entra mosca."
o Translation: "A fly won't get into a closed mouth."
o Know when to keep quiet.
o Equivalent: A closed mouth catches no flies.

* "Em casa de ferreiro, o espeto é de pau"
o Variant: "Casa de ferreiro, espeto de pau".
o Translation: "In a blacksmith's house the skewer is made of wood"
o Equivalence: The shoemaker's children have no shoes.
o Equivalence in french: Les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés.

* Em casa de gente pobre, cada vida vale um cobre"
o Translation: "In poor peoples' houses, each life is worth (nothing more than) a penny"

* "Em pouco muito se diz."
o Translation: In little much can be said.

* "Em rio que tem piranha, macaco bebe água de canudinho." (Brazil)
o Translation: "In a piranha infested river, monkeys drink water using a straw."
o Variation: "Em rio que tem piranha, jacaré nada de costas." (Brazil)
o Translation: "In a piranha infested river, alligators do backstroke swimming."
o Meaning: Be careful in risky situations.

* "Em tempo de guerra não se limpam armas."
o Translation: "During war you don't clean your weapons."
o Meaning: No time for the usual things in a strong situation.

* "Em terra de cegos, quem tem um olho é rei."
o Variant: "Em terra de cegos, quem tem olho é rei."
o Equivalence: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
o Equivalence in french: Au royaume des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois.

* "Ele a dar-lhe e a burra a mijar para trás."
o Translation: He keeps hitting her end the [female] donkey keeps pissing backwards.
o Usage: When a person has been frequently corrected about an error but doesn't change

* "Enquanto há vida, há esperança."
o Translation: "While there's life, there's hope."
o Equivalence in french: Tant qu'il y a de la vie il y a de l'espoir.

* "Enquanto o pau vai e vem folgam as costas."
o Translation: while the stick comes and goes the back is at rest.
o Meaning: In between difficult situations you can have some rest.

* "Entradas de leão, saídas de cordeiro".
o Translation: Lion entries, lamb's exits.
o Usage: About someone who enters a situation strongly and defiantly and exits it humbly.

* "Entre marido e mulher não se mete a colher."
o Translation: "Between husband and wife, one doesn't put the spoon."
o Variant: "Entre marido e mulher não metas a colher."
o Meaning: One shouldn't mess with a couples private life, or anyone's for that matter.
o Equivalent in French: Entre l'arbre et l'écorce, il ne faut pas mettre le doigt.

* "Entre mortos e feridos alguem há-de escapar."
o Translation: Among the dead and the wounded someone will get out [unscathed]
o Meaning: In spite of the disastrous situation someone or something will still not suffer damage

* "Errar é humano; perdoar é divino."
o Equivalence: "To err is human; to forgive, divine." (Pline)
o Latin: Errare humanum est
o Equivalence in french: L'erreur est humaine.

* "Errar é humano; insistir no erro é burrice."
o Translation: "To make a error is human; pushing the same error is dumb."
o Latin: Errare humanum est, (sed) perseverare diabolicum.
o Equivalence in french: L'erreur est humaine, mais persévérer est diabolique.

* "Esta vida são dois dias e o Carnaval são três."
o Translation: This life last two days and the Carnival lasts three
o Meaning: Enjoy life. "Don't worry, be happy."

F

* "Faça o que eu digo, não faça o que eu faço."
o Translation: "Do as I say, not as I do."
o Used mainly by parents to reinforce telling their childen to obey without setting the example (ex. telling children to go to bed before they do)
o Variation: "Sermão do Frei Tomás: faz o que ele diz, não faças o que ele faz."
o Translation: "Friar Thomas sermon: do what he says, don't do what he does."

f** Equivalence in french: Faites ce que je dis, pas ce que je fais.

* "Falai no mau que ele sempre aparece."
o Translation: Speak of the Evil and he'll always pop up.
o Usage: When someone you're talking about pops up unexpectedly. Usually shortened to "Falai no mau...", or modified into "Não podes ser boa pessoa!", "You can't be a good person!".
o Equivalence: Speak of the devil and he's sure to appear.
o Equivalence in french: Quand on parle du loup... (on en voit la queue).

* "Faz o bem sem olhares a quem."
o Translation: Do good without looking at whom.
o Note: a frequent motto for voluntary firemen.

* "Feliz ao jogo, infeliz aos amores."
o Translation: Lucky at gambling, unlucky at love.
o Meaning: You can't have it all.
o Meaning: Something good, something bad.
o Equivalence in french: Chance au jeu, malchance en amour.

* "Ferro que não se usa, gasta-o a ferrugem."
o Translation: "Unused iron is ruined by rust."
o Meaning: if you don't use it you lose it.

* "Festa acabada, músicos a pé."
o Translation: "Party over, musicians by foot."

* "Fia-te na Virgem e não corras, verás o trambolhão que levas."
o Translation: "Trust the virgin [Mary] and don't run and you'll se the stumble you'll get."
o Meaning: Don't trust in chance and wait for things to happen; be alert and act. Or else.

* "Fica tudo como dantes: quartel-general em Abrantes."
o Translation: Everything stays as it was, headquarters at Abrantes.
o Meaning: after all this work, things stay the same.
o Usage: When after much deciding the decision is to stay as it was, or go back to a previous position

* "Filho de peixe sabe nadar."
o Translation: "Fish's child knows how to swim."
o Variation: "Filho de peixe, peixinho é."
o Translation: "The son of a fish is a little fish."
o Equivalence: Like father, like son.

* "Filhos criados, trabalhos dobrados."
o Translation: "Raised children, doubled work."

* "Filho és pai serás, assim como/conforme fizeres assim receberás/acharás."
o Translation: you're a son, you'll be a father, as you'll do so you'll get

* "Fui a casa da vizinha envergonhei-me, vim para a minha remediei-me."
o Translation: I went to my neighbor's house and was ashamed of myself, I got back to mine and made do with what I had.

G

* Gaba-te, cesta, que vais à vindima."
o Translation: Praise yourself, basket, you're going to grape collecting
o Usage: About someone praising himself. Usually condensed into "Gaba-te, cesta"

* "Gaba-te, cesto, que vender-te quero."
o Translation: Praise yourself, basket, for I want to sell you

* "Gaivotas em terra, tempestade no mar."
o Variant: Gaivotas em terra é sinal de tempestade.
o Translation: "Gulls on land, storm at the sea."
o Usage: When you see someone who usually you don't see, and that means trouble is going on somewhere.

* "Geada na lama, água na cama."
o Translation: "Frost on the mud, water on the bed."

* "Gato escaldado tem medo de água fria."
o Variant: "Gato escaldado, de água fria tem medo."
o Translation: "A cat that has been scalded is afraid of cold water.". A scalded cat is afraid of cold water.
o Equivalence: "Once bitten, twice shy."
o Equivalence: A burned child dreads the fire.
o Equivalence in French: Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide.

* "Gato escondido com o rabo de fora."
o Translation: "A cat that is hidden with its tail showing [out of the hidding place]."
o Used to confront someone with a big plot to hide something, but with a small detail that compromises the entire thing.

* "Gordura é formosura, magreza é beleza."
o Translation: Plumpness is prettiness, thinness is beauty
o Meaning: All women are beautiful.

* "Gostos não se discutem."
o Translation: You don't discuss tastes.
o Equivalence: There's no accounting for taste.
o From the Latin, de gustibus non disputandum est / de gustibus non disputatur,
o Equivalence in french: Les goûts et les couleurs, ça ne se discute pas.

* "Grandes caminhadas, grandes mentiras."
o Translation: "Big walks, big lies."

* "Grandes peixes pescam-se em grandes rios."
o Translation: "Big fish are fished for in big rivers."

* "Grão a grão enche a galinha o papo"
o Translation: "Grain by grain the hen fills the crop."
o Meaning: Little by little and over time, you'll get your profit, satisfaction, etc.

* "Guarda que fazer e não guardes de comer, que o comer azeda-se e o trabalho não."
o Translation: Keep something to do but not something to eat, for food will turn sour but work won't

* "Guardado está o bocado para quem o há de comer."
o Translation: The piece is kept for whoever is going to eat it.
o Usage: About someone or something you want to "eat", haven't managed to yet, but are sure to get.


H

* "Há mais marés que marinheiros."
o Translation: There are more tides than sailors.
o Meaning: Don't despair upon this lost opportunity, you'll have another, or I'll have another.
o Equivalence: There are plenty more fish in the sea.

* "Há males que vêm por bem."
o Translation: "There are bad things that come for the good."

* "Há remédio para tudo menos para a morte."
o Translation: There's a remedy to everything but death.
o Meaning: Only death is final, all other problems have solutions.

* "Homem pequenino, velhaco ou dançarino."
o Variant: Homem pequenino é sacana ou bailarino.
o Translation: "Small man, sly or dancer."
o Usage: About a small man you get distrustful of, or expect deceit from. Implied in "Aquele não dança", "That one doesn't dance", said about a small man.

* "Homem prevenido vale por dois."
o Equivalence: Forewarned, forearmed.
o Equivalence in French: Un homme averti en vaut deux.

* "Hora a hora, Deus melhora."
o Translation: Hour by hour, God improves.
o Meaning: With time everything will get better.


I

* "Infeliz no jogo, feliz no amor."
o Translation: "Unlucky in gambling, lucky in love."

J

* "Junta-te aos bons e serás como eles; junta-te aos maus e serás pior que eles. "
o Translation: Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.
o Meaning: watch who you go around with.


L

* "Ladrão não rouba a ladrão."
o Translation: A thief doesn't rob a thief.

* "Ladrão que rouba ladrão tem cem anos de perdão."
o Translation: "Thief who steals from a thief has one hundred years of pardon."

* "Lembra aos rapazes o que ao diabo esquece."
o Translation: Boys come up with things even the Devil forgot.
o Meaning: Boys come up with extraordinary things.

* "Lenha verde pouco acende, e quem muito dorme pouco aprende."
o Translation: Green logs hardly burn, and he who sleeps too much hardly learns anything.

* "Lisboa é praça de armas, Coimbra dos estudantes, Porto dos mercadores, Vila Real dos amantes."
o Translation: "Lisbon is square of weapons, Coimbra of the students, Porto of the merchants, Vila Real of the lovers."

* "Lobo não come lobo."
o Translation: "Wolf doesn't eat wolf."
o Equivalence in french: Les loups ne se mangent pas entre eux.

* "Longe dos olhos, longe do coração." (can also be "Longe da vista (sight), longe do coração")
o Translation: "Far from the eyes, far from the heart."
o Equivalence: "Out of sight, out of mind."
o Variation: "O que os olhos não vêem, o coração não sente." ("What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel.")
o Equivalence in french: Loin des yeux, loin du coeur

* "Louvor em boca própria é vitupério."
o Translation: "Praise in own mouth is insult."


M

* "Macaco velho não mete a mão em cumbuca." (Brazil)
o Translation: "An old monkey will not stick his hand into a jar (where it is liable to get stuck)."
o The older are not likely to make the mistakes of the young.

* "Mais depressa se apanha um mentiroso que um coxo."
o Translation: You catch a liar faster than you catch a limping person.
o Meaning: Don't lie, you'll be caught.

* "Mais vale cair em graça do que ser engraçado."
o Translation: It's better to be the subject of a joke than being funny.

* "Mais vale prevenir do que remediar."
o Translation: "It's best to prevent than to have to remedy (or fix)."
o Equivalence: "Better safe then sorry.", "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
o Equivalence in french: Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir.

* "Mais vale sê-lo que parecê-lo."
o Translation: It's better to be [that] than to seem so.

* "Mais vale só que mal acompanhado."(Portugal)
* "Antes só que mal acompanhado."(Brazil)
o Translation: "Rather alone than in bad company."
o Usage: When someone is alone, or when someone prefers to evade someone else even if it implies going alone.

* "Mais vale tarde do que nunca."
o Translation: "Better late than never."
o Equivalence: Better late than never.
o Equivalence in french: Mieux vaut tard que jamais.

* "Mais vale um gosto do que seis vinténs."
o Translation: "It´s better (to satisfy) a taste, than (to keep) sixpence."
o Variant: "Mais vale um gosto na vida que seis vinténs na algibeira."
o Translation: Rather (have) a pleasure in life than sixpence in the pocket.
o Meaning: You can spend some money on what really pleases you instead of being miserable and regret not having had it (and keep boring us stiff with that).

* "Mais vale um mau acordo que uma boa sentença."
o Translation: A bad agreement [out of the court] is better than a good verdict.
o Usage: About court judgements.

* "Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois a voar."(Portugal)
* "Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando."(Brazil)
o Translation: "A bird in the hand has more worth than two flying."
o Equivalence: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
o Equivalence in french: Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras.

* "Mais vale um 'toma' do que dois 'te darei'."
o Translation: "It's better one 'Take this' than two 'I'll give it to you'."
o Equivalence in french: Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras.

* "Mais vale uma palavra antes que duas depois."
o Translation: A word before is better than two after.
o Meaning: It's better to instruct than to correct.

* "Mal de muitos consolo é."
o Translation: "The misfortune of many is a consolation".

* "Mal por mal, venha o Diabo e escolha."
o Translation: Evil for evil, let the Devil come and choose.
o Usage: When your stuck among bad solutions you can't choose from and give up choosing.

* "Manda quem pode, obedece quem deve."
o Translation: Who can commands, who must obeys.
o Meaning: You heard the man, now do it.
o Usage: Assertion of a command chain by underlings.

* "Mãos frias, coração quente."
o Translation: Cold hands, hot heart.
o Usage: Said about people with cold hands, usually implying tenderness towards that person.

* "Mente sã em corpo são."
o From the Latin, mens sana in corpore sano.
o Translation: "A healthy mind in a healthy body".
o Translation in french: Un esprit sain dans un corps sain.

* "Mesa sem pão é mesa de vilão."
o Translation: A table without bread is a villain's table.
o Usage: Of a table in which bread is absent.

* "Minha casa, minha casinha - merda para o rei e para a rainha".
o Translation : "My home, my small home - (it's) shit to the king and to the queen".
o It does not matter how humble one's house is. It is always one's home.

* "Mordedura de cão cura-se com o pêlo do mesmo cão."
o Translation: A dog's bite is cured with the same dog's hair.
o Meaning: similia similibus curantur, similar things cure the evils caused by one of them.
o Usage: Encouraging a person to keep on in spite of having suffered a mishap.

* "Morra Marta, morra farta."
o Translation: Let Marta die, let her have plenty.
o Meaning: Give up your scruples and have as much as you can.
o Usage: When you give up on abstaining from something and go off on a binge, no matter what

* "Morrer por morrer, morra o meu pai que é mais velho."
o Translation: If it's just a matter of someone dying, then let my father die, as he's older.

* "Morreu o bicho, acabou-se a peçonha."
o Translation: The animal is dead, the venom has finished.
o Meaning: We got finally rid of that venomous person and we can breathe much better now.

* "Mudam-se os tempos, mudam-se as vontades."
o Translation: times change, wills change
o Meaning: even important ideas change with time.

* "Muita parra e pouca uva."
o Translation: Too many vine leaves and too few grapes.
o Meaning: Too many unsubstantial things and too few useful ones.
o Meaning: Too much talk, too little facts.

* "Muito alcança quem não cansa."
o Translation: He who doesn't get tired can reach much.

* "Muito esquece a quem não sabe."
o Translation: Much is forgotten by those who don't know.
o Usage: About people who don't know and excuse themselves with lack of memory.

* "Muito riso, pouco siso."
o Translation: "Much laughter, little wisdom".

* "Mulher doente, mulher para sempre."
o Translation: A sick woman is forever.
o Usage: About women who keep complaining about small aches.

* "Mulher feia é casta por natureza."
o Translation: The ugly woman is chaste by her own nature.
o Meaning: You aren't that virtuous if your own natural compels you not to sin.

N

* "Na adversidade é que se prova a amizade."
o Translation: "Friendship is proven in adversity".
o Equivalent: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
o Equivalent in French: C'est dans le besoin qu'on reconnaît ses vrais amis.

* "Não há bela sem senão nem feia sem sua graça."
o Translation: "There´s no female beauty without imperfection nor ugly woman without something intersting."
o Meaning: Nothing is flawless and nothing is completely uninteresting.

* "Não há duas sem três."
o Translation: There's no two without a three.
o Meaning: If it happened twice, it will happen again.
o Equivalent:
o Equivalent in French: Jamais deux sans trois.

* "Não há luar mais bonito que o de agosto."
o Translation: "No better moonshine than in august."

* "Não há galinha gorda por pouco dinheiro."
o Translation: there are no fat chicken for little money (for cheap).
o Meaning: there are no big bargains. Be suspicious otherwise.

* "Não há rosas sem espinhos"
o Translation: There are no roses without thorns.

* "Não sabendo que era impossível, foi lá e fez."
o Translation: "Not knowing twas impossible, he went (there) and did it."

* "Não se deve despir um santo para vestir outro."
o Translation: "Don´t undress one saint to dress another."

* "Não se malha em ferro frio."
o Translation: You don't strike iron while it's cold.
o Equivalence: Strike while the iron is hot.
o Equivalence in French: Il faut battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud.

* "Não chores sobre leite derramado."
o Translation: "Don't cry over spilt milk."

* "Não deixes para amanhã o que podes fazer hoje."
o Translation: "Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today."
o Equivalence: "Carpe diem" (not quite - this means "Live life fully")
o Equivalence: Don't put off (necessary) things until later.
o Equivalence in French: Il ne faut jamais remettre au lendemain ce qu'on peut faire le jour même.

* "Não ponhas a carroça à frente dos bois."
o Translation: "Don't put the cart before the oxen."
o Equivalence: "Don't put the cart before the horse."
o Equivalence in French: Il ne faut pas mettre la charrue avant les bœufs.

* "Não se pode ter sol na eira e chuva no nabal."
o Translation: You can't have sun in the treshing floor (?) and rain in the turnip field.
o Meaning: You can have it one way or the other, but not both.
o Equivalence: "You can't have your cake and eat it too."

* "Não se queima boa vela para mau defunto."
o Translation: "If the deceased is no good, one shouldn't waste good candles on him."
o Equivalence: "Don't throw good money after bad."

* "Não se deve desdenhar o que se recebe graciosamente."
o Translation: "You should not scorn that which you get for free"

* "Navegar é preciso, viver não é preciso."
o Translation: "To sail is necessary, to live is not necessary."
o Other Translation: "To sail is very precise, to live is not quite so."
o Origin: Latin "Navigare necesse; vivere non est necesse", Pompeus, Roman General, quoted by Plutarch, when his soldiers were refusing to proceed on aea journey; revived by Fernando Pessoa, and popularized in a song by a well-known Brazilian singer and composer Caetano Veloso in the music "Os Argonautas".

* "Nem só de pão vive o homem."
o Translation: "Not only of bread lives a man".
o Equivalence: "Man does not live on bread alone."

* "Nem tudo que reluz é ouro."
o Variant: Nem tudo o que brilha é ouro.
o Translation: "Not everything that shines is gold".
o Equivalence: "Everything that glitters is not gold."
o Equivalence: All that glitters is not gold.
o Equivalence in French: Tout ce qui brille n’est pas or.

* "Ninguém é profeta na sua terra."
o Translation: "No one is a prophet in his own land".
o Equivalence in French: Nul n’est prophète en son pays.

* "Notícia ruim vem a cavalo."
o Translation: "Bad news come on horseback."
o Equivalence: "Bad news travels quickly."

* "Novos tempos, novos costumes."
o Translation: "New times, new habits."
o Equivalence in French: Autres temps, autres moeurs.

* "Nunca digas 'desta água não beberei'."
o Translation: "Never say 'from this water I shall not drink'."
o Equivalence: "Never say never."
o Equivalence in French: Il ne faut jamais dire "Fontaine je ne boirai pas de ton eau".


O

* "O amor é cego."
o Translation: "Love is blind."

* "O barato sai caro."
o Variant: "O que é barato sai caro."
o Translation: What is cheap is costly.
o Meaning: The cheap things prove to be expensive at the end.
o Equivalents: If you buy quality, you only cry once. If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
o Note: also the conclusion of a high school fallacy: What is cheap is rare; what is rare is expensive; hence, what is cheap is expensive.

* "O bom filho à casa torna."
o Translation: The good son returns home.
o Meaning: People and things always come back where they belong.
o Note: Although in the present, the phrase speaks in the future.

* "O bom médico é o do terceiro dia."
o Translation: The good physician is the third day one.
o Meaning: As most diseases only assume their best-known form by the third day or later, physicians from the previous days tend not to have much to diagnose with; hence, the third day doctor is the first to make the right diagnosis.
o Note: Medical proverb.

* "O calado é o melhor."
o Translation: The silent guy is the best.
o Meaning: In this situation, the best is to say nothing.
o note: As Calado is also a common surname, this allows for some jokes.

* "O comer e o coçar estão no começar."
o Translation: Eating and scratching are in the beggining.
o Meaning: There are things you don't want to stop doing after you begin.

* "O crime não compensa."
o Translation: "Crime doesn't pay."

* "O cu não tem nada a ver com as calças."
o Translation: The ass has nothing to do with the pants.
o Usage: When you want to stress that two things are unrelated, even if they pop up in the same conversation topic.
o Note: contains profanity.

* "O Diabo não é tão mau como o pintam."
o Translation: The Devil isn't as bad as they portray him.
o Meaning: It's not as bad as they say.

* "O dinheiro fez-se para se contar."
o Translation: Money was made to be counted.
o Usage: When you want to insist that someone counts the money you give him in front of you.

* "O dinheiro fez-se para se gastar."
o Translation: Money is meant to be spent.

* "O dinheiro não nasce nas árvores."
o Translation: "Money doesn't sprout on trees."
o Usage: To people who want you to spend money you dont want to spend.
o Usage: To people who spend money foolishly.

* "O dinheiro não traz felicidade."
o Translation: "Money doesn't bring happiness."
o Cynical variant: O dinheiro não dá a felicidade, mas ajuda muito.
o Translation: Money doesn't bring happiness, but it does help a lot to it.

* "O gato comeu-te a língua?"(Portugal)
o Translation: The cat ate your tongue?
o Variation: "O gato mordeu a tua língua?"(Brazil)
o Translation: "The cat bit your tongue?"
o Said to someone who suddenly becomes mute.
o Equivalence: "Cat got your tongue?"
o Note: This is an expression, not a proverb.

* "O futuro a Deus pertence."
o Translation: The future belongs to God.
o Meaning: You can't know about the future, so stop counting on it.

* "O hábito é uma segunda Natureza."
o Translation: "Custom is a second nature."

* "O hábito não faz o monge."
o Translation: "The habit doesn't make the monk."
o Equivalence: "Clothes don't make the man."
o Equivalence in French: L'habit ne fait pas le moine.

* "O Homem põe e Deus dispõe."
o Translation: "What man can do, God can undo"
o Equivalence: "The best laid plans of mice and men."

* "O lume ao pé da estopa o diabo lhe sopra."
o Translation: The devil will blow upon fire near oakum.
o Meaning: If you create risky situations (such as leaving alone two teenagers of opposite sex) you will have the expectable result.

* "O mal dos outros é consolo de parvos."
o Translation: "The distress of others is the solace of idiots."
o Meaning: Feeling better by knowing that the other is worse is not very clever.

* "O olho do dono é que engorda o cavalo."
o Translation: "The owner´s eye fattens the horse".

* "O Português é uma língua muito traiçoeira."
o Translation: Portuguese is a very treacherous language.
o Usage: When someone makes a mistake, usually allowing for a funny (and/or embarassing) second interpretation.

* "O mal está nos olhos de quem o vê."
o Translation: The evil is in the eyes of who sees it.
o Meaning: If you criticize others, you aren't very good yourself.
o Meaning: Only you consider that an evil.

* "O mau artífice queixa-se da ferramenta."
o Translation: A bad worker complains about his tools.
o Meaning: Incompetence is never assumed and usually blamed upon something or someone else.
o Equivalence: A bad workman always blames his tools.

* "O melão e a mulher conhecem-se pelo rabo."
o Translation: Melons and women are known by their asses.
o Meaning: About the habit of poking a melon in a given point in order to assess its ripeness.
o Note: Knowledge, here, is usually not in the biblical sense.
o Note: A bit rude. Contains slang.

* "O óptimo é inimigo do bom."
o Translation: The very best is the ennemy of the good.
o Meaning: If you only want the very best you will lose all that's just good.

* "O pior cego é aquele que não quer ver."
o Translation: "The worst blind is the one who doesn't want to see."
o Equivalent in French: Il n'est pire aveugle que celui qui ne veut pas voir.
o See also: Antes cegues que mal vejas.

* "O pote tanto vai à bica que um dia fica."
o Variant: "Tantas vezes vai o cântaro à fonte que um dia se quebra."
o Translation: "The pot goes so many times to the fountain that someday it will not be back."
o Equivalence in French: Tant va la cruche à l’eau qu’à la fin elle se casse.

* "O primeiro milho é dos pardais."
o Translation: The first corn is for sparrows.
o Usage: When someone lost the first opportunity for something you wanted.

* "O que arde, cura [e o que aperta, segura.]"
o Translation: What burns, cures [and what is tight, holds.]
o Usage: Frequently said about alcohol, in the short form, "O que arde, cura".

* "O que arma a esparrela muitas vezes cai nela."
o Translation: He who prepares the trap frequently falls on it.
o Usage: To someone caught in his own schemes.

* "O que é bom acaba depressa."
o Translation: What is good ends quickly.

* "O que é doce nunca amargou."
o Translation: What is sweet never tastes sour.

* "O que é nosso vem parar-nos à mão."
o Translation: What is ours comes to our hands.

* "O que é um peido pra quem está cagado?"
o Translation: "What's a fart for someone who is soiled? (or shi***d)."
o Note: Obviously, contains slang.

* "O que não mata, engorda."
o Translation: What doesn't kill, fattens.
o Meaning: If it doesn't harm you you'll thrive on it
o Alternative meaning: Everything's bad: it either kills or fattens (unusual)
o Usage: To a person complaining excessively of a mishap
o Usage: When you are about to have an unknown, unusual experience
o Equivalent: That which does not kill you, makes you stronger. (Nietzsche.)

* "O que não tem remédio remediado está."
o Translation: What doesn't have any remedy is no longer a problem.
o Meaning: Stop fretting, things you can't fix are no longer a problem, think of those you can fix.

* "O que nasce torto, tarde ou nunca se endireita."(Portugal)
o Translation: "What is born crooked, late ou never gets straightened."

* "O que os olhos não vêem, o coração não sente."
o Translation: "What the eyes don't see the heart doesn't feel."
o Equivalence: "Out of sight, out of mind."
o Variation: "Longe dos olhos, longe do coração." ("Far from the eyes, far from the heart.")

* "O que tu sabes já eu me esqueci."
o Translation: What you know, I already forgot.
o Meaning: What you find so interesting now is something I already knew and forgot a long time ago.

* "O rabo é o pior de esfolar."
o Translation: The tail is the hardest part to peel (?).
o Meaning: it's at the end that we'll get to the toughest part.

* "O saber não ocupa lugar."
o Translation: Knowledge uses up no space.

* "O segredo é a alma do negócio."
o Translation: Secrecy is the essence of business.

* "O seguro morreu de velho."
o Translation: The safe one died of old age.
o Equivalence: Better safe than sorry.
o Note: "Seguro" being a common surname, jokes are common.

* "O seu a seu dono."
o Translation: All things to their owner.
o Equivalence: To each his own.
o Equivalence in french: (Rendre) à César ce qui est à César.

* "O silêncio é de ouro."
o Translation: "Silence is golden."

* "O Sol quando nasce é para todos."
o Translation: "The Sun, when it rises, is for everybody."
o Meaning: There are things everybody is entitled to and you can't take them away.

* "O trabalho dá saúde."
o Translation: Work brings health.
o Equivalence in french: Le travail c'est la santé.

* "O trabalho não mata ninguém."
o Translation: Working kills nobody.

* "O vinho faz bem aos homens [quando são as mulheres que o bebem.]"
o Translation: Wine is good for men [when it's women who drink it.]

* "Onde há fumaça há fogo."
o Variant: Onde há fumo há fogo. (Port.)
o Translation: "Where there is smoke there is fire."

* "Onde se ganha o pão, não se come a carne."
o "Where you earn your bread, you don't eat the meat."
o Meaning: Where you work, don't date.

* "Olha por ti e fica-te por aí."
o Translation: Look after yourself and no more than that.
o Meaning: Stick to your own business.

* "Onde está galo não canta galinha."
o Translation: Where there's a cock, hens don't crow.
o Note: About the relationship of women among themselves, and with men.

* "Os amigos são para as ocasiões."
o Translation: Friends are for occasions.
o Usage: When you go to a friend to ask something.

* "Os cães ladram mas a caravana passa."
o Translation: Dogs bark, but the caravan keeps on.
o Meaning: Pay no attention to what people say.
o Note: From an Arab proverb.

* "Os extremos tocam-se."
o Translation: Extremes touch each other.
o Meaning: Two extreme opposites are frequently similar or attracted to each other.

* "Os fins justificam os meios."
o Translation: "The ends justify the means."
o Equivalence in french: La fin justifie les moyens.

* "Os fins não justificam os meios."
o Translation: "Ends do not justify the means."
o Origin: a principle of Morals.

* "Os homens não se medem aos palmos."
o Translation: Men aren't measured with a hand's length.
o Meaning: Small men aren't to be underestimated.
o Meaning: Big men aren't always strong and brave.

* "Os rios correm para o mar."
o Translation: "The rivers flow to the ocean"

* "Ovelha que berra, bocado que perde." (Portugal)
o Translation: "A silent man accomplishes more than an incessant talker."