Saturday 30 May 2015

Brazilian vs European Portuguese#2

Dublar vs Dobrar

Both refer to dubbing a film/tv show, etc.

Brazilians call it dublar (probably from the English term), while the Portuguese call it dobrar (literally, “to double” or “to fold”)

Friday 22 May 2015

Game Changers: Brazilian Game Names #5

Quebra-Cabeça - Puzzle

As in the puzzle games where you have a bunch of pieces you put together to form a picture (or a thing if it~s a 3D one).

Literally, “Brain-Breaker”.

Even more literally, “Head-Breaker”.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does #2/Brazilian Culture: Differences #7

In Brazil we have two words for the colour black. It’s important to understand how they’re used so as to avoid giving (or receiving) insult:

Negro

Negro is a word in Portuguese that means “black/dark”, and is usually only used when describing a living thing, the exception almost always being in poetry/songs if it fits better for rhyme/meter/etc. i.e. A CD of lullabies I had as a kid had a song whose title was Negro céu (”Dark Sky”).

The word for someone with dark skin is negro (pronounced “n’eh-gro”, not like “nee-gro” in English). 

To Brazilians the word negro has ZERO racist connotations. In fact, it’s the politically correct way to refer to someone who has dark skin.

Preto

The most commonly used word for the colour black in relation to objects/non-living things (and oftentimes animals too; i.e. gato preto - “black cat”). 

When used in reference to a person, it’s considered pejorative (unless used by someone who’s black).