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Want To Find Out What A “Disque/Disk” Is? Posted by on Mar 3, 2015 in Culture, Vocabulary

Olá! Tudo bem?

The most found word on Brazilians fridges is “disque” (also spelled “disk”). Whether you’re single, married, families end up collecting – throughout the years – a multicolor array of fridge magnets, freebies offered by companies with their address and phone number.

Most of these magnets come with “disque” or “disque” plus the service. For example: if you want a pizza, there’s always a “Disque Pizza”. But what on earth are these “disques”?

Well, “discar” means “to dial”.

Acho que você discou o número errado.
I think you dialed the wrong number.

So if it’s a “disk” service you can just call and they will deliver such product or service for you.

In Brazil you’re likely to find services like:

– Disk carimbos [for stamps]
– Disk festa [to cater a party]
– Disk cerveja [for beer! love this one]
– Disk cestas [for gift baskets]
– Disk caçamba [for dumpsters!]
– Disk fraldas [for diapers]
– Disk salgados [for snacks]
– Disk gelo [for ice]
– Disk ingressos [for concert tickets]
– Disk cartuchos [for printer cartridges]
– Disk marmita [for takeout food]
– Disk água [for water]
– Disque denúncia [crime tips hotline – just dial 197]

Phone books have a huge list of “disk” services and I think it’s because Brazilians don’t like to drive to places to buy stuff (I, for one, use disks all the time). Well, it’s a pain to go, park, risk getting mugged, or into an accident, when you can have things delivered at your house.

Example:

Liguei para o disque água para pedir mais duas garrafas.
I called the water delivery service to order two more bootles.

disk

 

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About the Author: Adir

English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.