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05 Brazilian Slang Words Posted by on Nov 21, 2014 in Culture

Brazilian singer “Falcão”

We gotta love slang right? Some slang words go and some stay so today I’m going to teach you 5 slang words that everybody knows and uses (and it’s also safe to use them because they’re not bad words).

Estão prontos?

01. À beça, pra caramba – a lot

Nossa, hoje tá quente à beça / pra caramba. – Man, it’s so hot today.
Tinha gente à beça / pra caramba na praia. – There were a lot of people at the beach.
“Você gostou do filme?” “Pra caramba!” – “Did you like the movie?” “A lot!”

02. Bulhufas, patavinas, nadica de nada – nothing at all

Não entendi bulhufas do que ele falou. – I didn’t understand a word of what he said.
Estudava matemática, mas não entendia patavinas. – I used to study math, but I didn’t understand anything at all.
“Você gastou todo o dinheiro? Quanto sobrou?” “Nadica de nada.” – “Did you spend all the money? How much was left?” “Nothing at all.”

03. Estar numa pindaíba – to be extremely broke

Cara, tô numa pindaíba que você nem imagina! – Man, I’m so broke you have no idea!
Eu ‘tava numa pindaíba quando comprei esse carro. Nem sei como consegui pagar. – I was so damn broke when I bought this car. I don’t even know how I was able to pay for it.
Ele anda numa pindaíba que dá dó! – He’s been so broke you feel sorry for him.

04. De lascar – something very difficult

A prova de inglês foi de lascar, hein! – The English test was so hard, wasn’t it?
Tomar banho no tempo frio é de lascar. – Taking a shower in the cold weather is so hard!

We can also say “se lascar” when you fail at something:

Me lasquei na prova de matemática. – I failed miserably my math test.

05. Cafona – tacky, out of style (usually said about clothes)

Aquela mulher é muito cafona. Olha as roupas dela! – That woman is so tacky. Take a look at her clothes!
Pára de ser cafona e vai trocar de roupa. – Don’t be tacky and go change your clothes.
Que música cafona é essa? – What kind of tacky song is that?

The word brega has the same meaning as cafona.

I hope you liked this post with Brazilian slang words. If you did, share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc! Thank you!

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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.