Portuguese · Frustration & Despair
De saco cheio
jee SAH-koo SHAY-oo · /dʒi ˈsa.ku ˈʃe.ju/
Fed up / sick and tired
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"With a full sack"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
"Estou de saco cheio" is the classic "I've had it up to here." The image is a scrotum full to bursting, but nobody pictures that — it's just peak exasperation. Pairs with the target: "de saco cheio de esperar." Coarse-ish but everyday; bar-safe. Clean version: "de mão cheia"? No — use "estou cansado disso."
Heard in the wild
Tô de saco cheio de trabalhar aos domingos.
I'm sick and tired of working on Sundays.
Where it lands
Brazil (universal).
Quick answers
- What does "De saco cheio" mean?
- In Portuguese, "De saco cheio" means "Fed up / sick and tired". Literally it's "With a full sack". "Estou de saco cheio" is the classic "I've had it up to here." The image is a scrotum full to bursting, but nobody pictures that — it's just peak exasperation. Pairs with the target: "de saco cheio de esperar." Coarse-ish but everyday; bar-safe. Clean version: "de mão cheia"? No — use "estou cansado disso."
- Is "De saco cheio" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "De saco cheio"?
- Say it "jee SAH-koo SHAY-oo" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: dʒi ˈsa.ku ˈʃe.ju.
Related in Portuguese
Droga! DROH-gah Darn! / Damn it! Que sacanagem! sah-kah-NAH-zhang That's so unfair! / What a low blow! Pra caralho prah kah-RAH-lyoo As hell / a shitload / extremely Chato SHAH-too Annoying / boring / a pain Putz! POOTS Darn! / Ugh! / Oh no! Que foda! keh FOH-dah Badass! / Awesome! — OR 'that's rough' (context flips it)
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Tough luck".
- French C'est nul ! That sucks / That's lame
- German Mist! Crap! / Rats! — the family-friendly 'damn'
- Greek σιγά Big deal / whatever / calm down / as if — dismissive minimizing.
- Italian Merda! Shit! / Damn it!
- Japanese 勘弁して Give me a break / spare me / oh, come on
- Korean 아이고 Oh dear / oof / good grief — the sound of Korea sitting down after a long day.
- Polish szlag Damn it — 'szlag by to trafił' = may a stroke strike it.
- Russian Капец! That's it, it's over / Damn / Whoa
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