{"id":1619,"date":"2010-10-22T01:52:43","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T01:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/?p=1619"},"modified":"2010-10-22T01:52:43","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T01:52:43","slug":"untranslatable-portuguese-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/untranslatable-portuguese-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Untranslatable Portuguese Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s much ado in the linguist community about words that are difficult to translate, and two Portuguese words often appear on lists of untranslatable words<\/a>. But I’m going to argue that while both are complex words, they’re not untranslatable.<\/p>\n

1. Cafun\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n

While this word encompasses a concept rather than a single word, it’s pretty straightforward, and incredibly beautiful. Cafun\u00e9<\/em> is the act of tenderly running your fingers through someone else’s hair. Just because you can’t cover it in one word doesn’t mean it’s impossible to translate it; it just takes a bit more explanation (see it in action<\/a> in a very sweet video of a father and his baby).<\/p>\n

Example: A av\u00f3 fez cafun\u00e9 novamente at\u00e9 ele adormecer.<\/em> The grandmother ran her fingers through his hair until he fell asleep.<\/p>\n

2. Saudades<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the most common Portuguese word that linguists allege cannot be translated, because it has more than one layer of meaning. It has a bittersweet component, in that saudades bring happiness in remembering something you love, but brings sadness because that thing or person is gone (though not necessarily forever).<\/p>\n

It’s really easy to learn how to use saudades<\/em> in everyday Portuguese! Click here to read the Portuguese Blog guide to saudades<\/a>. Then you can listen to the classic song “Chega de Saudade” below!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3or_wthpOkE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s much ado in the linguist community about words that are difficult to translate, and two Portuguese words often appear on lists of untranslatable words. But I’m going to argue that while both are complex words, they’re not untranslatable. 1. Cafun\u00e9 While this word encompasses a concept rather than a single word, it’s pretty straightforward…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[12045,2410,12046,2588,379357],"class_list":["post-1619","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-cafune","tag-portuguese","tag-saudades","tag-translation","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t