Monday 28 July 2014

Brazilian Colloquialisms, Sayings, and Slang #27

Mais realista qure o rei - [Even] more regal than the king


A play on the double meaning of real (real and royal). Someone who’s acting “more regal than the king” is even more of a stickler for the rules and/or oppressive than the actual person in charge.


Colar na prova - To cheat on a test


Literally, “to glue on the test”. Colar is the verb for cheating on a test in Portuguese (as well as the verb “to glue/stick on” and the noun “necklace”).


Brazilian Portuguese Grammar: Homonyms #1

Manga - Mango. Y’know, the fruit?


Manga - shirt sleeve


Similar but not quite:


Mangá - Japanese-style comics, spelled “manga” in English.


Thursday 10 July 2014

Brazilian Portuguese Grammar #3

In Brazilian Portuguese a person’s nationality is never capitalized (unless it’s the first word in a sentence, of course) while the name of a language always is capitalized.


So you can find yourself with sentences like “o nosso professor de Inglês é inglês” (our English teacher is English).


Monday 7 July 2014

Brazilian Portuguese Grammar #2

An important difference to remember:


Coco = coconut


Cocô = poop


Cocó - Onomatopoeia for the sound a chicken makes/toddler word for chicken


Oh the difference an accent can make…