se afogar num copo de água

English translation: make a mountain out of a molehill

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Portuguese term or phrase:	se afogar num copo de água
English translation:	make a mountain out of a molehill
Entered by:	Richard Jones

18:29 Oct 25, 2023

Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Other

Portuguese term or phrase: se afogar num copo de água

Any idea what this would be in English? Thanks for your help!!

Richard Jones KudoZ activity Questions: 2 (1 open) Answers: 0 Brazil
Local time: 04:11

drown in a glass of water

Explanation:
:) How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water: A Novel: Cruz, Angie

Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com › How-Not-Drown-Glass-Water
As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.

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Note added at 10 mins (2023-10-25 18:39:35 GMT)
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Drowning in a Glass of Water

Elephant Journal
https://www.elephantjournal.com › ...
·
20 de mai. de 2021 — In Spanish, we say that someone drowns in a glass of water: ahogarse en un vaso de agua. It's like saying, “don't make a mountain out of a ..

Selected response from:

Clauwolf
Local time: 04:11

Grading comment

Great! I think "make a mountain out of a molehill" is great! Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +6

drown in a glass of water

Clauwolf

Tempest in a teapot (AM-ENG) or storm in a teacup (BRT-ENG)

Diego Martins

making a mountain out of a molehill, to make a big fuss over nothing, to sweat the small stuff

Carolina Falcao

let small things get to you

Oliver Simões

blow things out of proportion

Nick Taylor

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

8 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

drown in a glass of water

Clauwolf
Local time: 04:11
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 140

Grading comment

Great! I think "make a mountain out of a molehill" is great! Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Andrew Bramhall

18 mins

-> thanks

agree

Karina Miguel

22 mins

-> thanks

agree

Oliver Simões: It just dawned on me that the meaning is metaphorical; therefore a literal translation may not be understood by some people. I just posted an alternative translation.

26 mins

-> thanks

agree

Nelson Soares

58 mins

-> thanks

agree

José Patrício: “drowning in a glass of water.”-https://artmuseum.williams.edu/drowned-in-a-glass-of-water-a...

1 hr

-> a pergunta foi posta no infinitivo, obrigado:)

agree

Mario Freitas:

4 hrs

-> obrigado

neutral

philgoddard: If I came across this literal translation in the middle of a sentence, I'd be confused. We need an equivalent English idiom, but we don't have any context.

10 hrs

-> Well, you can explain what it means in brackets. I do not recommend a translation different from the literal. Thanks

6 hrs confidence:

making a mountain out of a molehill, to make a big fuss over nothing, to sweat the small stuff

Explanation:
In the context of "se afogar num copo de água," a suitable English translation would be "to make a big fuss over nothing" or "to sweat the small stuff." These expressions convey the idea of someone overreacting or getting overly concerned about a trivial matter.

Carolina Falcao
Brazil
Local time: 04:11
Native speaker of: Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Marvelous Carolina! That's exactly what I was looking for!

7 hrs confidence:

Tempest in a teapot (AM-ENG) or storm in a teacup (BRT-ENG)

Explanation:
I believe most of the proposed translations were quite good. However, this phrase came to my mind, probably from something I read years ago, I am not sure where I first read it, but I think this can be a very good option.

It seems this phrase has been translated into several languages from the original Latin excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo ut dicitur Gratidius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_in_a_teapot
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/15/storm-in-teacup-tempest-glass-water

Diego Martins
China
Local time: 15:11
Native speaker of: Portuguese

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks Diego. The idea of making a mountain out of a molehill works very well here, too.

4 hrs confidence:

let small things get to you

Explanation:
The translation will depend on your specific context. For example, in the following excerpt I would translate it as "let small things get to you":

"Às vezes, as relações de casal passam por uma pequena crise, mas isso não significa que você deva jogar a toalha ou se afogar em um copo de água. Isso é normal, então tente ser paciente e confie no seu parceiro. Não tem motivos para ter ciúmes por qualquer coisa."

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Note added at 4 hrs (2023-10-25 23:27:59 GMT)
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Sorry, I accidentally pressed the wrong key and ended up posting the answer before I was ready to.

URL for the above passage: https://www.visaooeste.com.br/horoscopo-do-dia-03-de-abril-q...

Don;t let small things get to you: https://www.google.com/search?q="don't let small things get ...

The same translation fits into the following context. The idea is that you have a choice between being overwhelmed by life's uncertainties or accepting uncertainty as a part of life. After all, letting small things get to you is another option in your daily life.

"Você decide se vive assediado pelas preocupações dos milhares de infortúnios que podem acontecer com você e com aqueles que você ama, ou aceita a incerteza como parte da vida.. Afinal, se afogar em um copo de água é mais uma opção entre todas disponíveis no seu dia a dia." https://pt.sainte-anastasie.org/articles/psicologia/t-decide...

I hope this helps clarify a bit.

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Note added at 21 hrs (2023-10-26 15:57:57 GMT)
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Alternative translation: fret about small things
https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=pt&text=to fret about...

Oliver Simões
United States
Local time: 00:11
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 27

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you Oliver. This idea of not letting small things get to you is great. Maybe making a mountain out of a molehill, as was suggested by Carolina works well.

2 days 15 hrs confidence:

blow things out of proportion

Explanation:
blow things out of proportion (write the original and bracket the explanation)

Nick Taylor
Local time: 08:11
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 121

Notes to answerer

Asker: Great Nick. Thanks for your help!!

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English translation: make a mountain out of a molehill

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English translation: make a mountain out of a molehill

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