Portuguese Language Blog

The other day, I was talking to my Brazilian friend who was an English student of mine, and since then we like to speak in English so he can practice.  We were trying to figure out when to go to the beach and I told him the last few times I went to the beach, it was overcast and/or rainy.  He turns to me and says, “Ahhh, Poly, you have cold feet.”

“Oi?”

Pé frio, translated literally is “cold feet,” so my friend had a point there, but what he didn’t know was that this same expression in English meant something completely different.

Uma pessoa que tem o pé frio (a person who has a “pé frio”), is a person who is unlucky or brings bad luck to someone or some event.

During the past World Cup, for example, everyone kept calling Mick Jagger a pé frio because whenever he was at a game supporting a team, his team would lose!

In my case, I bring myself and those around me bad luck when I go to the beach because it always rains making me ter um pé frio.

I then explained to my friend that “cold feet” means something completely different in English, and since it’s mostly used when someone is about to get married and get nervous or disheartened, for my friend to not worry that I won’t be getting cold feet anytime soon!

Can you all think of any other expressions in Portuguese and English that are the same in literal translation but not meaning?

After getting pretty good feedback on my How to Speak Baianês post, and seeing we also have a Mineirês post, I thought I’d write slang/dialect posts here and there so we can all learn to be ready no matter what region we visit!

This week I started at a new job and two of my coworkers are from Pernambuco, a state in the northeast region of Brazil, and Pernambucanos have great accents that are as phonetic as you’ll get with Brazilian portuguese.  At lunch one day with them, they were teaching me a couple of different things they say that are completely different from Paulistanos, or the rest of Brazil, for that matter.  For example, the word escroto to me means something sketchy or someone who’s kind of a jerk.   In Pernambuco, it means “funny,” as in, “You know what’s funny?” In Pernambuco they’d say, “Sabe uma coisa escrota?”

So I took some of their lessons, uploaded a Lenine (artist from Pernambuco) video for you to listen to here, and found a Pernambuquês Dictonary to share with you all!

The order goes pernambuquês, português, English, got it?

Galalau, Pessoa Alta, Tall person

Cotôco, Resto, Leftover

Massa, Bom/Legal, Cool or Awesome

Peba, Ruim, Bad/Boring

Mangar, Rir dos outros, Laugh at others

Gazear, Faltar aula, Skip class

Xôxo, Pequeno e magro, Someone who’s small and thin

Leso, Bobo, Someone who’s silly

Frouxo, Medroso, Someone who’s scared  of everything

Invocado, Estar com raiva, To be angry

Vou chegar, Estou indo embora/Vou sair, I’m leaving

Liso, Sem dinheiro, Broke (without  money)

Boyzinha, Moça nova, Young girl

Muriçoca, Pernilongo, Mosquito

Borocoxô, Pessoa triste, Someone who’s sad

Iapôis, É mesmo, “Oh yeah!” (As in, I agree, or I hadn’t thought of that)

Fuxico, Fofoca, Gossip

Notice that in Pernambuco, they use a lot of “ô” in their vocabulary, so get ready to pronounce your “oh” sounds

Now you’re ready for a trip to Recife, Olinda, or any of Pernambuco’s other gorgeous towns with your newly learned gírias!

As you’re reading this, I’ll probably be in Salvador, Bahia!  My friend and I are in Salvador and Morro de São Paulo in Brazil’s northeast state of Bahia this week.

I have always wanted to go to Bahia because of the state’s rich culture, music, and food.  Salvador is the state’s capital and it supposedly has a little bit of everything the great state (second largest in Brazil!) has to offer including friendlysoteropolitanos, Salvador natives.

And what better way to train oneself than to learn to speak baianês? If you’re learning Portuguese, you’ve probably already realized that not only every country, but many states in lusophonic countries have distinct accents and sayings.  Baianos have a great African influence in their culture and their sayings tend to look like a Brazilian-esquecreole.

The order goes baianês, português, English, got it?

E aê meu rei! - Oi amigo! - Hey buddy!

Venha, painho - Vem aqui - Come over here [friend, relative]

Colé de mermo? - O que é que você quer mesmo? - What was it you wanted again?

Vou cumê água - Vou beber [álcool] - I’m going to get a drink [usu. alcohol]

Lá ele! - Eu não! Sai fora! - Not me, get out of here!

Ó Pai, ó! - Olhe para aí, olhe! - Look out! Look over there!

Bó batê o baba! - Vamos bater uma bola! - Let’s go kick a ball around (play pick up soccer)

Oxe! - Baianos use this for everything.  It’s like the Mineiro, “uai,” the Paulistano, “meu,” and the Carioca’s, “cara,” – Usually only natives know how to use it, but I’m going to go on a limb here and use an example, “Oxe! Tô atrasada!” – “Oxe! I’m late!”

Now that you can speak baianês you’re ready to go to Bahia!