Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Portuguese term or phrase:
Estava a ver...
English translation:
It seemed like it...
Portuguese term
Portugal
EN Translator
Native in: English (Variant: UK) 
, Portuguese (Variant: European/Portugal)
Works in: Portuguese to English, Spanish to English
Estava a ver...
Não.
Estava a ver...'
This is a bit like 'you scared me' in English. The closest would be: 'Do you suspect me? No. Thought you did (or thought you might)'.
But somehow it doesn't feel right. I'm looking for a more idiomatic expression that would give this idea, if there is one...
Thanks in advance for your help!
Proposed translations
Brazil
Senior Pro Translator - 24 years XP
Native in: Portuguese (Variants: Brazilian, European/Portugal) 
Works in: English to Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese
Seems like (you do).../It seems like (you do)...
| "It seems like it" faz mais sentido, mas é uma boa sugestão. Obrigada! |
United States
Translator - 6 Language Pairs
Native in: English (Variant: US) , Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: Portuguese to English, English to Portuguese, Portuguese to Spanish, and 3 more.
Yeah, right
"Why, don't you trust me?"
"Of course, I do!"
"Yeah, right..." or "It didn´t look like [you did] to me/from where I stand
| Thanks Roy, that's the exact idea, but 'yeah, right' seems a little vague, I like your second suggestion better but I need a shorter version for subtitles. Maybe 'It didn't look like it'? :) |
| neutral |
Andrew Bramhall
: 'Yeah, right' is fine if you can reproduce the ironic sarcasm in writing that it has in speech;
16 mins
|
| agree |
T o b i a s
: Good.
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Verginia Ophof
6 hrs
|
Portuguese to English, English to Portug
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, English to Portuguese
well, it looks like it!
| Thanks Nick! |
Brazil
translator-interpreter
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Portuguese to English, Spanish to English, English to Portuguese, and 5 more.
[Well,} I was thinking you were / or did...
- No.
- I was thinking you were / did
ver
[b´er] vt 1 Ver, enxergar. 2 Observar, considerar,achar. 3 Visitar. 4 Refletir, pensar, matutar.
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African, British, Scottish)
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Looked like you were...
"Were you suspicious of me?"
"No"
"Looked like you were..."
| agree |
Diana Coada (X)
: Looked like you were / thought you might have been.
11 hrs
|
|
Thank you.
|
Brazil
32 years engineering/law/contracts
Native in: English (Variant: US) , Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English
Discussion
Mas creio que a ironia que a Tania refere cabe ao observador, e não ao interlocutor, isto é, para a pessoa a quem a frase é dirigida esta expressão não tem ironia nenhuma, é suposto ser uma expressão quase de protesto (passivo) para afastar/limpar suspeitas.
Chamo-lhe "protesto passivo" porque é uma defesa, não é um contra-ataque, um "How dare you?".
o texto expressa a ideia de 'I was just...' Algo como se a pessoa estivesse simplesmente checando, verificando, etc.