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!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jSVLwz1bag

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!