If Youre in the Area Again We Hope You Will Come Back Again in Portuguese

viii Portuguese Terms We Wish Existed in English

Published February 24, 2020

Sometimes we're at a loss for words, non because we're speechless, simply considering no English term lends itself to the situation (or snack) at hand. At those times, we plough to other languages, celebrating them for the concepts we wish we could express so hands in English. Here are some of our favorite words from the Portuguese language.

saudade

This untranslatable Portuguese term refers to a melancholic longing or yearning. A recurring theme in Portuguese and Brazilian literature, saudade evokes a sense of loneliness and incompleteness. Portuguese scholar Aubrey Bong attempts to distill this complex concept in his 1912 book In Portugal, describing saudade as "a vague and constant desire for something that does non and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present."

Bell continues to say that saudade is "not an active discontent or poignant sadness only an indolent dreaming wistfulness." Saudade can more than casually be used to say that y'all miss someone or something, even if you'll meet that person or thing in the near future. It differs from nostalgia in that one tin feelsaudade for something that might never have happened, whereas nostalgia is "a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time."

futevôlei

Brazilians have inventively portmanteau'd the sports of volleyball and soccer together to create futevôlei, "footvolley," or beach volleyball played without hands. This sport rose to popularity in the 1960s on the beaches of Copacabana. One famous move called the "Shark Assail" involves players spiking the volleyball over the internet with i foot.

cafuné

Mayhap the origin of the romantic paradigm some of usa have of Brazil is found inside the Portuguese linguistic communication. "The human action of caressing or tenderly running fingers through a loved i'due south hair" is a mouthful mercifully avoided in Brazil with the term cafuné. This affectionate action can exist applied to lovers and pets alike, as can the term chamego, which wraps upwards the senses of intimacy, infatuation, and cuddling, all in one term.

farofa

A traditional Brazilian feast will come with a side of farofa. This dish consists of manioc flour toasted in butter, and usually mixed with finely chopped ingredients like salary, eggs, or bananas. Brazilians generally serve farofa alongside other foods at a traditional barbecue, called a churrasco.

xodó

Your xodó is your sweetheart, in a mode that applies both to your significant other and also someone you take a special closeness with, such as a grandparent. A pet could be a xodó as well (especially if information technology'south enjoying cafuné). You can besides "accept" xodófor someone when you accept soft spot for them. This all-purpose term of endearment originated in northern Brazil and might be translated in some instances as the slang termboo. Some other proficient lucifer for this word (albeit in Spanish) is cariño.

tapioca

Though English language speakers might call up of tapioca as the dense balls constitute in pudding and bubble tea, the term tin refer to something entirely dissimilar in Brazil. Frequently purchased from street carts, this snack is made of tapioca flour toasted until it forms a apartment, round shape, filled with sweetness or savory ingredients, and and then folded in half. A popular treat amidst Brazilians is tapioca filled with shredded meat and cheese, or with coconut, condensed milk, and cinnamon.

desenrascanço

The term desenrascanço, used in Portugal, roughly means "the act of disentangling yourself from a difficult state of affairs using available means." Some English language speakers find a almost translation of desenrascanço in the colloquial verb MacGyver, as in the Gizmodo headline "How NASA MacGyvered the Bedridden Apollo xiii Mission Safely Home." The eponymous verb MacGyver comes from the activeness/adventure show of the same name, get-go aired in 1985, in which the title graphic symbol evades gummy situations by reconfiguring the limited resources at his disposal. For example, in 1 episode, MacGyver fashions a trap using plywood, rope, water jugs, and a fume detector to aid him escape from a heavily guarded warehouse. That's quite a "disentangling."

poisé

A debate with a Brazilian over how to translate the expression pois écan lead to a lively conversation. Does it mean "yeah"? Close, but not quite. Is it "well"? Mayhap. Part of the trouble is it takes a different meaning depending on the context. It can be used to prove agreement (every bit in when English-speakers reply "exactly") or resignation to a fact (mayhap negative) that can't be inverse ("that'due south life"). Information technology can also mean a form of "I told you lot and then." With so many meanings, this word just tin can't be pinned downward.

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Source: https://www.dictionary.com/e/portuguese-terms/

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