Se você já se sentiu como se estivesse tentando esvaziar um oceano com um pequeno copo, então talvez a expressão em inglês “A drop in the ocean” lhe seja familiar, que em português equivalente seria uma “gota no oceano”.
Imagine a vast expanse of ocean. In front of it, you have a small water droplet. You drop it into the ocean. Can you see the difference? Probably not. That’s the essence of “a drop in the ocean,” meaning a very small amount compared to what is needed or expected.
Por exemplo, “The money donated to charity was but a drop in the ocean,” which when translated to Portuguese would be “O dinheiro doado para caridade foi apenas uma gota no oceano”.
Or “The efforts made to clean up the city were little more than a drop in the ocean”, translating to – “Os esforços feitos para limpar a cidade foram pouco mais do que uma gota no oceano”.
One more scenario where the idiom fits right in: “Compared to the massive debt, the payment was a drop in the ocean”. In the Brazilian ontology, it would read, “Comparado à dívida massiva, o pagamento foi uma gota no oceano”.
Now, whenever you find yourself in a situation where your contribution or change seems minuscule compared to the magnitude of the context, you could use “a drop in the ocean” to express how you feel. Variants of this phrase can be “like finding a needle in the haystack”, if you’re referring to the difficulty level of achieving something but its relative insignificance in the grand scheme of things.
In your journey of mastering English idioms, keep in mind that they’re a critical part of daily conversations. Do you sometimes feel that grasping English idioms is also like “a drop in the ocean”? Well, fear not! Gaining gradual knowledge, one idiom at a time, will eventually fill up the ocean.
Então, gostaram da expressão “a drop in the ocean”? 😄 Aproveitem para memorizá-la e usar em suas futuras conversas! Espero que esta exploração tenha ajudado no entendimento! E não se esqueçam: Querem se aprofundar no assunto? Digitem COMUNIDADE para conhecer nossa comunidade.