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Picar a mula

Portuguese

Meaning

To leave quickly / run away

Example

Quando a polícia chegou, todo mundo picou a mula.

When the police arrived, everyone ran away quickly.

Origin

From mule riding: picar ("to spur/prod") the mule to make it gallop. The image of spurring a mount to leave in a hurry survives in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese as a vivid way to say "get out of here fast".