The biggest tourist hot spot in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, has its own slang and almost overall dialect.  Living in São Paulo and being around the Paulistanês “language” all the time, to me it’s quite refreshing to go to Rio and listening to Carioquês and its malandro nature.

Cariocas speak with a certain coolness in their accent.  They know they’re cool and they make it a point to speak as if they are.  They “shhh” their s’s and elongate their vowels, and their r’s are like a raspy English “H” sound.  So wanna learn some carioquês for when you finally make that trip down to Rio?

As our other get–to–know–a–state posts have gone, the order goes  carioquês, português, English!

Mermão, meu irmão/amigo, bro, brah, friend.

Média, uma xícara de café com leite, cup of coffee w/ Milk

Goiabar, viajar, vagar, daydream

Quentinha, marmita, a meal to go

Irado, legal, cool

Maluco, Sujeito, indivíduo, Person

Coé, Qual é?, Como vai?, Sup?

Pista, Balada/Boate, Nightclub

Parada, Acontecimentos, Tarefas, Happenings, something that needs to be done

Mané, Otário, Idiot

Sangue, Gente boa, Someone who’s cool

Tu, Você, You

Caô, mentira, a lie

Bolado (Boladão), Triste, Upset

Bonde, ônibus, galera, bus or crowd of people

And to end the post, a video on a song about Cariocas by Adriana Calcanhotto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ILWexKciNw