Meaning of dar ponto sem nó, faca e o queijo na mão and santo de casa

Learn the meaning of Ponto sem nó, faca e o queijo na mão and santo de casa não faz milagre

Learn the Meaning of Ponto sem nó, faca e o queijo na mão and santo de casa não faz milagre

Hello there and welcome to our Portuguese Basic Tips 98, called meaning of Ponto sem nó, faca e o queijo na mão and santo de casa

On today’s podcast, we are going to speak about the expressions “santo de casa não faz milagre”, “dar ponto sem nó” and “estar com a faca e o queijo na mão”.

No further delay. Let’s get started!

Click on the link to visit our previous Portuguese Basic Tips, called Speaking Portuguese like a Brazilian

Estar com a faca e o queijo na mão

We can literally translate that as “having the knife and the cheese in hand”, however, when we use it in daily conversations, we mean that someone has a great opportunity to do something.

For example:

  • Cláudia tinha a faca e o queijo na mão para ser promovida no trabalho. (Cláudia had a great opportunity to get promoted in her work.)
  • Ele estava com a faca e o queijo na mão e perdeu aquele gol. (He had a great opportunity and did not score that goal).

Dar ponto sem nó

This expression comes from the art of sewing. When we are sewing, we say that we are “stitching” the fabric, we are “dando pontos no tecido”. And, of course, in order for this stitch to be fixed to the fabric, we need to knot the thread. Ok, now that you know how to sew a fabric, let’s go back to the Portuguese language.

When we say someone “não dá ponto sem nó”, we mean that he or she did something premeditated. He knew what would happen beforehand.

  • Cláudia não dá ponto sem nó: ela já sabia que ele teria aquela reação. (Cláudia premeditated all this: she already knew that he would have that reaction.)
  • Ela já sabia de antemão que ele responderia isso, por isso não deu ponto sem nó. (She already knew in advance that he would answer that, so she premeditated the situation).

Santo de casa não faz milagre

Now imagine the following situation: I know you have someone that frequently says “I told you so” – in Portuguese we say “eu avisei”. Our parents usually say that.  The expression “santo de casa não faz milagre” has something to do with it. Sometimes our parents say something for our own good and yet we don’t listen to them. And sometimes, just sometimes, another person would say the same thing to you, but this time you think he or she is right. Well, but your father did the same! Your mom tried to warn you and you didn’t listen to her! When it happens, in Brazil, we say “santo de casa não faz milagre”.

  • Eu tentei lhe avisar, filho, mas santo de casa não faz milagre (I tried to warn you, son, but you didnt hear me).

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See you soon.

Thanks!

Marcos Sales

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1 Response

  1. 17 de May de 2021

    […] Visite o nosso episódio anterior sobre o singnificado de ponto sem nó, faca e queijo na mão e santo de casa não faz milagre […]

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