This is one of my favorite expressions in English, because it express the grit and determination required to accomplish anything in life, which often means doing the things that we don’t like to do but we have to do anyways.
Unfortunately, there’s no single common expression in Brazilian Portuguese that conveys that same idea as just one sentence. So we will consider two expressions, the first one is a verb: encarar a situação , and the second one is an actual idiom: engolir o sapo.
Encarar a situação
Encarar a situação: literally "to face the situation"
One of the many meanings of
"encarar"is to look someone in the eye or to confront. This is by far the most common expression to convey the same meaning as “bite the bullet.” It’s what I would actually use when saying I have to do something difficult and unavoidable.Let’s see the examples:
Talvez eu deveria… encarar a situação e ser honesto com ela.
Maybe I should… bite the bullet and be honest with her.
Meu amigo, você vai ter que encarar a situação.
My friend, you’re going to have to bite the bullet.
Por que que a gente não encara a situação e conta logo pra ele?
Why don’t we bite the bullet, and tell him right now?
Em vez de se incomodar com isso, encara a situação e aguenta firme.
Rather than bother about it, bite the bullet and hang in there.
E é só por um segundo, então encare a situação.
And it’s just for a second, so bite the bullet.
Ele não me deixava em paz, então eu decidi encarar a situação e terminar com ele.
He didn’t leave me alone, so I decided to bite the bullet and break up with him.
Antônio sabia que ele tinha que encarar a situação e demitir o Fábio.
Antônio knew he would have to bite the bullet and fire Fábio.
Engolir o sapo
Engolir o sapo: literally
to swallow the frogIf you’ve read the book
Eat That Frog, you should know that we have a similar expression, but we don’t really use it when speaking. In fact, very few Brazilians actually use it. However, you are going to see it in some books, TV shows, and subtitles, which is why I thought it would make a nice addition here. It’s one of those nice-to-have expressions that will broaden your understanding of the language, but should stay in your passive vocabulary. Let’s get to it!
Não tinha nada que eu podia fazer além de engolir o sapo e esperar que tudo acabasse logo.
There was nothing I could do but bite the bullet… and hope it would be over soon .
Às vezes, você tem que engolir o sapo.
Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet.
Bem, como seu amigo, meu conselho é que você engula o sapo e compre a casa.
Well, as your friend, my advice to you is to bite the bullet and buy the house.
Talvez eu deva engolir o sapo e ir para cidade.
Maybe I should bite the bullet and go to the city.
Eu acho que e a gente vai ter que engolir o sapo e tentar agradar nossas esposas.
I guess we all have to bite the bullet and try to please our wives.
Você tem que engolir o sapo e dizer como você se sente pra ela.
You’ve got to bite the bullet and say how you feel to her.
Eu não gosto dessa ideia, mas eu vou engolir o sapo e fazer isso.
I don’t like this idea, but I have to bite the bullet and do it.
Calado, vira homem e engole o sapo, cara!
Shut up, be a man and bite the bullet, dude!
Bite the bullet is one of those expressions that translates the concept well but has no single word-for-word match in Brazilian Portuguese. Now it’s time to encarar a situação and test your knowledge by reviewing the sentences as flashcards. Te vejo no próximo post!