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Ha! I bet you think I’m angry at you, my dear reader, but this post title is only to catch your attention and teach you a very cool Brazilian idiom: cara-de-pau.
Cara-de-pau is one of those expressions that is hard to translate directly into English, like many others. OK, so let’s learn what a cara-de-pau (wood face) is.
A cara-de-pau is a jerk, basically. Someone who doesn’t care about somebody else’s feelings or someone who is bold to the extent of being inappropriate. Let’s check out some examples:
Ele teve a cara-de-pau de vir aqui depois de tudo que ele fez pra mim.
He had the nerve coming here after all he’s done to me.
Você é muito cara-de-pau em me pedir dinheiro. Me paga o que você me deve antes.
You have the nerve asking me for money. Pay me what you owe me.
Que cara-de-pau! Fiquei horas me arrumando e ele me disse que eu estava “bonitinha”.
What a jerk! I spend hours getting ready and he tells me I look “cute”.
Aquele cara de pau teve coragem de dar uma cantada na mulher casada.
That jerk had the nerve to hit on a married woman.
To be a cara-de-pau can also have a more positive meaning, like being bold and getting things done, when nobody else would risk doing it.
A palestra tá cheia… agora se você tiver a cara-de-pau de ir lá e tentar entrar, aí já é com você.
The lecture is full… now if you’re bold enough to go there and try to get in, it’s up to you.
Na vida você tem que ser cara-de-pau e ir atrás do que você quer.
In life you’ve got to be bold and go after what you want.
Cara-de-pau is an extremely common expression in Portuguese and you are very likely to come across it when you are watching a Brazilian TV show, like “Os Cara-de-Pau” or even a movie, “Os Irmãos Cara-de-Pau” (The Blues Brothers!!).
Now some cultural trivia: in Brazil we have something called “óleo de peroba”, which is oil to spread over furniture, especially wooden, to make it shinier or more beautiful. People usually say things like: “Vou dar um óleo de peroba pra aquele cara”, meaning that he is a cara-de-pau (wood face). By the way, peroba is a kind of tree!
Well, this is it for today. Have a great weekend and remember to share this post with your friends!
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Comments:
Tim Case:
What’s the difference between cara de pau e folgado?
Adir:
@Tim Case Hi, Tim! A folgado is a person who tries to take advantage of you somehow. For example, my older brother Anderson (and this is true!) was a folgado because when he was supposed to do some chores around the house he’d get my other brother, André, to do it for him. Another example, you’re lazy to do your homework and you copy it off someone who’s worked really hard, that’s also a folgado. Folgado comes from folga (day off) and there is even the verb folgar (to negatively take advantage of someone).
Cara-de-pau is more noticeable and a folgado usually lies low. That help? By the way, thanks for visiting the blog and commenting! =) Have a great one!
Margaret Nahmias:
Interesting because in English when say something or someone is wooden. It means it is awakard o unnatural. By the way you should do a similar entry about dor de cotevelo. I am curious to know its origin.