Damn way to learn a new expression!

PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Again, with not much to do. I was crawling the Youtube and all of sudden I am watching this guy reacting to Brazil X Belgium. At the end of the match, I mean. So, the match is over, he was really a fan of Brazil team, but then he sees Brazil losing.
He says, Brazil´s is down (he then makes the slit troath signal) and says "France next favorite". Elaborating more he say "Brazil tried, but Brazil was a day late and Dollar short" (referring to the second half).
Now it´s your turn, rush to the dictionary, a book or a site and discover what it means... He he he, je je je!

APRESENTAÇÃO PESSOAL EM INGLÊS
Nesta aula, a professora Camila Oliveira ensina como você deve se preparar para fazer uma apresentação pessoal profissional em inglês. O conteúdo dessa aula ajudará você a aproveitar melhor as oportunidades no ambiente corporativo. ACESSAR AULA
2 respostas
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PPAULO,

The phrase combines two English expressions:

... A day late. (... Um dia atrasado.)
And
... A dollar short. (... Um dólar a menos.)

Both of them have the same meaning, which is that something came really close to happening, but sadly didn't happen (in this case, Brazil's victory). Imagine having a real important meeting, but coming a day late, or going to a store to buy something, but being a dollar short. These expressions try to transmit this disappointment for what didn't happen.
A different expression with similar meaning is close call (the closest translation I can think of is por pouco):

I almost died! That was a close call! (Eu quase morri! Essa foi por pouco!)

The difference is that this one expression doesn't always try to transmit disappointment, being used both for good and bad close calls.
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Thanks for commenting. ;-) In fact, that is a idiom, is another way to say too little too late! But, in the context we can think of "almost there" or "close but no cigar!". :-)