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Estar com a corda toda

Portuguese

Meaning

To be full of energy / To be pumped up

Example

Fulano começou o serviço com a corda toda!

He started the job all fired up!

Origin

The expression estar com a corda toda ("to be fully wound up") comes from the old mechanisms driven by springs and wound cords, such as wind-up clocks and mechanical toys. To run, they had to be wound all the way; fully tensioned, the mechanism worked at top speed and power.

Source: Escreva.ai.