Portuguese for the perplexed

[Never Ping]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johns.../05/brazilians

Portuguese for the perplexed


Inspired by a popular guide to Understanding the British, I've put together a few entries in a Foreigners' Guide to Understanding Brazilians. Portuguese speakers and Brazilianists are invited to add more in the comments. Hat tip to Brazil-based journalists Andrew Downie and Dom Phillips, who contributed items, and Olivier Teboul, a Frenchman living in Belo Horizonte whose list of "Brazilian curiosities" (in Portuguese) has generated a huge response from amused, and sometimes bemused, locals.

What Brazilians say: Yes (Sim)
What foreigners hear: Yes
What Brazilians mean: Anything from yes through perhaps to no

What Brazilians say: Perhaps (Talvez)
What foreigners hear: Perhaps
What Brazilians mean: No

What Brazilians say: No (Não)
What foreigners hear (on the very rare occasion a Brazilian says it): No
What Brazilians mean: Absolutely never, not in a million years, this is the craziest thing I've ever been asked

What Brazilians say: I'm nearly there (Tô chegando)
What foreigners hear: He's nearly here
What Brazilians mean: I've set out

What Brazilians say: I'll be there in ten minutes (Vou chegar em dez minutinhos)
What foreigners hear: He'll be here soon
What Brazilians mean: Some time in the next half-hour I'll get up off the sofa and start looking for my car keys

What Brazilians say: I'll show up later (Vou aparecer mais tarde)
What foreigners hear: He'll be here later
What Brazilians mean: I won't be coming

What Brazilians say: Let's stay in touch, ok? (A gente se vê, vamos combinar, ta?)
What foreigners hear: He'd like to stay in touch (though, puzzlingly, we don't seem to have swapped contact details)
What Brazilians mean: No more than a Briton means by: "Nice weather, isn't it?"

What Brazilians say: I'm going to tell you something/ Let me tell you something/ It's the following/ Just look and you'll see (Vou te falar uma coisa/ Deixa te falar uma coisa/ É o seguinte/ Olha só pra você ver)
What foreigners hear (especially after many repetitions): He thinks I'm totally inattentive or perhaps mentally deficient
What Brazilians mean: Ahem (it's just a verbal throat-clear)

What Brazilians say: A hug! A kiss! (Um abraço! Um beijo!)
What foreigners hear: I've clearly made quite an impression—we've just met but he/she really likes me!
Waht Brazilians mean: Take care, cheers, bye

What Brazilians say: You speak Portuguese really, really well! (Você fala português super-bem!)
What foreigners hear: How great! My grammar and accent must be coming on a lot better than I thought
What Brazilians mean: How great! A foreigner is trying to learn Portuguese! Admittedly, the grammar and accent are so awful I can barely understand a word... but anyway! A foreigner is trying to learn Portuguese!

[colher]

What Brazilians say: NEMLI
What foreigners hear: He didn't read it
What Brazilians mean: HUEHUEHUEHUEBRBRBR

[DiE LuCiaNo]

woiheiohewqiohiowhqio spoon fdp

Curti, é tudo verdade aí, especialmente o do "quase chegando" e derivados

[Conrado]

eu sou especialista nesse "tô chegando"

[Blazed]

OAEOHAEOHEAOHEAO
pq conca, voce nao sai de casa rapido? : /

[Conrado]

eu moro longe pra caralho e tenho sérios problemas com procrastinação e distração

[vegetous]

não tem coisa mais engraçada do que vc tá no busão e escuta alguém no celular, olha tô quase chegando, tô na rua tal, tal, tal. e vc olha pela janela e vê que está há pelo menos uns 30 minutos do local que o camarada falou!

[jacu]

Kkkkkkk

[dark_man]

Postado por colher

What Brazilians say: NEMLI
What foreigners hear: He didn't read it
What Brazilians mean: HUEHUEHUEHUEBRBRBR

Spoon sem nocao!

[Gerson]

ehauohi mto bom