Body Part Idioms | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Body-part idioms are some of the most frequent and most vivid expressions in Brazilian Portuguese. The trap is that they are opaque — you cannot work out "custar os olhos da cara" from the words "cost the eyes of the face." You have to learn each one as a whole unit, like a single vocabulary item, and store its meaning, not its image. The good news is that once learned, these phrases make your Portuguese sound genuinely native, because they're everywhere in real speech.

This page groups idioms by body part. For each, you get the idiom, its literal gloss, what it actually means, a register label, and a natural example.

Olho (eye) and cara (face)

Ficar de olho (em) — literally "to stay of eye (on)" — means to keep an eye on / keep watch. Everyday, neutral.

Fica de olho na minha bolsa enquanto eu vou ao banheiro?

Can you keep an eye on my bag while I go to the bathroom?

Custar os olhos da cara — literally "to cost the eyes of the face" — means to cost a fortune. The English equivalent is "to cost an arm and a leg." Neutral, very common.

Esse celular novo custa os olhos da cara, não vou comprar agora.

This new phone costs a fortune, I'm not buying it right now.

Fazer cara feia — literally "to make ugly face" — means to scowl, to react with displeasure, to make a face. Informal, friendly.

Pedi pra ela ajudar e ela fez cara feia na hora.

I asked her to help and she immediately pulled a face.

De cara — literally "of face" — is an adverb meaning right away / straight off / at first glance. Informal.

De cara eu já percebi que tinha algo errado.

Right away I noticed something was wrong.

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"De cara" is a quiet workhorse — it means "immediately/from the start," not anything to do with faces. Don't confuse it with "fazer cara feia" (to scowl). Same noun, completely different idioms.

Mão (hand)

The hand is the most productive body part for Brazilian idioms.

Dar uma mãozinha — literally "to give a little hand" — means to lend a hand, to help out. The diminutive "-zinha" makes it warm and casual. Informal.

Você me dá uma mãozinha pra carregar essas caixas?

Can you give me a hand carrying these boxes?

Meter a mão — literally "to put/shove the hand" — has two meanings depending on context: to hit/smack someone, or to steal/swipe something. Informal, and the "hit" sense can be aggressive.

Roubaram a loja de novo — meteram a mão em tudo.

They robbed the store again — they swiped everything.

Pôr a mão no fogo (por alguém) — literally "to put the hand in the fire (for someone)" — means to vouch for someone, to guarantee their honesty. The English equivalent is "to vouch for" or "to stake my life on it." Neutral.

Conheço o João há anos, ponho a mão no fogo por ele.

I've known João for years, I'd vouch for him completely.

Mão de vaca — literally "cow's hand" — means a stingy person, a cheapskate. Informal, mildly mocking.

Ele é tão mão de vaca que nunca paga uma rodada.

He's such a cheapskate he never buys a round.

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"Pôr/colocar a mão no fogo" is conditional trust: you say it to express confidence in someone. The mental image is medieval (trial by fire), so the meaning is "I'm so sure I'd risk getting burned." If you only learn the literal words, you'll miss it entirely.

Pé (foot)

Meter o pé — literally "to put/shove the foot" — means to leave, to take off, to bolt (often quickly). Informal.

A festa tava chata, então a gente meteu o pé cedo.

The party was boring, so we took off early.

Pé na estrada — literally "foot on the road" — means to hit the road, to set off on a trip. Often as "pôr o pé na estrada." Informal, upbeat.

Arrumei a mochila e botei o pé na estrada no fim de semana.

I packed my backpack and hit the road over the weekend.

Enfiar o pé na jaca — literally "to stick the foot in the jackfruit" — means to overindulge, to go overboard (typically with food or drink), to fall off the wagon. The jackfruit (jaca) is a big, messy tropical fruit, which adds to the comic image. Informal.

Eu tava de dieta, mas no churrasco enfiei o pé na jaca.

I was on a diet, but at the barbecue I totally went overboard.

Boca (mouth)

De boca em boca / boca a boca — literally "from mouth to mouth" — means by word of mouth. The English equivalent is identical: "word of mouth." Neutral.

O restaurante ficou famoso de boca em boca, sem nenhuma propaganda.

The restaurant got famous by word of mouth, with no advertising at all.

Note: "boca a boca" can also mean mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a medical context — context disambiguates.

Cabeça (head) and saco (a crude one)

Cabeça-dura — literally "hard head" — means stubborn, pig-headed. The English equivalent is "hard-headed" / "pig-headed." Informal but not rude.

Não adianta discutir com ele, é cabeça-dura demais.

There's no point arguing with him, he's far too stubborn.

Estar de saco cheio (de) — literally "to be with the bag/sack full (of)" — means to be fed up, to have had enough. The "saco" here is mildly crude (it can refer to the scrotum), so this is (informal) and leans coarse; in polite company prefer "estar cheio/farto de" or "de saco cheio" only among friends.

Tô de saco cheio de trabalhar de graça, vou cobrar da próxima vez.

I'm fed up with working for free, I'll charge next time.

Idiom	Literal	Meaning	Register
ficar de olho	stay of eye	keep an eye out	neutral
custar os olhos da cara	cost the eyes of the face	cost a fortune	neutral
fazer cara feia	make ugly face	scowl / pull a face	informal
de cara	of face	right away	informal
dar uma mãozinha	give a little hand	lend a hand	informal
meter a mão	put the hand	hit / steal	informal
pôr a mão no fogo	put hand in the fire	vouch for	neutral
mão de vaca	cow's hand	cheapskate	informal
meter o pé	put the foot	take off / leave	informal
pé na estrada	foot on the road	hit the road	informal
enfiar o pé na jaca	stick foot in jackfruit	overindulge	informal
de boca em boca	from mouth to mouth	word of mouth	neutral
cabeça-dura	hard head	stubborn	informal
estar de saco cheio	be with full sack	be fed up	informal, coarse

Common Mistakes

❌ Custou os braços e as pernas.

Incorrect — calque of the English 'an arm and a leg'.

✅ Custou os olhos da cara.

It cost a fortune.

The English image is arm-and-leg; the Brazilian image is eyes-of-the-face. Don't translate the English body parts — use the fixed Portuguese phrase.

❌ Ele é mão de boi.

Incorrect — the fixed image is a cow, not an ox.

✅ Ele é mão de vaca.

He's a cheapskate.

Idioms are frozen. It's "mão de vaca" — swapping the animal breaks the expression even though "boi" (ox) is also a bovine.

❌ Ponho minha mão no fogo. (meaning literally 'I put my hand near the stove')

A literal reading is almost never intended.

✅ Ponho a mão no fogo por ele.

I'd vouch for him.

Note the fixed article ("a mão", not "minha mão") and the preposition "por + person." The idiom needs the "por alguém" to mean "vouch for someone."

❌ Estou de saco cheio. (said in a job interview)

Far too crude for formal settings.

✅ Estou um pouco cansado dessa situação.

I'm a bit tired of this situation.

"De saco cheio" is informal and borderline vulgar. Among friends it's fine; in formal or professional contexts, use "cansado/farto de."

❌ Vou meter o pé na jaca da reunião.

Mixes two idioms — 'meter o pé' (leave) and 'enfiar o pé na jaca' (overindulge).

✅ Vou meter o pé da reunião. / Enfiei o pé na jaca no jantar.

I'm leaving the meeting. / I went overboard at dinner.

Keep the two "pé" idioms separate: meter o pé = leave; enfiar o pé na jaca = overindulge. They are not interchangeable.

Key Takeaways

Body-part idioms are opaque — learn meaning, not the literal image.
High-frequency essentials: ficar de olho, custar os olhos da cara, pôr a mão no fogo, dar uma mãozinha, meter o pé, mão de vaca.
Watch the frozen pieces: fixed articles ("a mão"), fixed animals ("vaca"), fixed prepositions ("por ele").
"De saco cheio" is coarse — keep it for casual settings.

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