Back to all idioms

Dar com a cara na porta

Portuguese

Meaning

To get rejected / To be shut out

Example

Ela não me deu bola, eu dei com a cara na porta! Que vergonha!

She didn't flirt back, I got shut out! How embarrassing!

Origin

The expression dar com a cara na porta ("to come face to face with the door") works through plain physical imagery: you arrive somewhere expecting to be let in, only to meet a shut door instead of the person or place you were after.