 |
| Fernando Pessoa, the famous poet in different colours (arty souvenir shop in Lisbon) |
1. A Portuguese does not “give up,” he “takes his little horse away from the rain.” (
Tirar o cavalinho da chuva.)
2. A Portuguese does not “have a problem,” he “is done to the beef.” (
Estou feito ao bife!)
3. A Portuguese does not want you “to leave him alone,” he wants you to “bother Camões.” (
Vai chatear o Camões.) [Camões is the most celebrated Portuguese poet – he wrote the epic
Os Lusíadas]
4. A Portuguese does not “cause problems,” he “breaks all the dishes.” (
Partir a loiça toda.)
5. For a Portuguese, you are not “sexy,” you are “as good as corn.” (
Boa como o milho.)
6. A Portuguese does not “work a lot,” he “gets water up his beard.” (
Água pela barba.)
7. A Portuguese does not “talk about the same thing over and over again,” he “turns the record and plays the same song”. (
Gira o disco e toca o mesmo.)
8. A Portuguese does not do something “to show off,” he does it “so the English can see it.” (
Para inglês ver.)
9. A Portuguese is not “shameless,” he has “a rotten face.” (Cara podre) Or he “has a lot of cans”. (
Ter muita lata.)
10. A Portuguese does not just “shut up and listen to things he does not like,” he “swallows frogs.” (
Engolir sapos.)
11. A Portuguese does not tell you to “piss off,” he tells you “to go to the place where Judas lost his boots.” (
Onde Judas perdeu as botas) Or, he will tell you to “go away and comb monkeys.” (
Vai pentear macacos.)
12. A Portuguese does not “wake up angry,” he “wakes up with his feet outside.” (
Com os pés de fora.)
13. A Portuguese is not “upset,” he is “with olive oil”. (
Estar com os azeites.)
14. A Portuguese is not “experienced,” he has “spent many years turning chickens.” (
São muitos anos a virar frangos.)
15. A Portuguese does not “think you have strange ideas,” he “thinks you have little monkeys inside your head.” (
Ter macaquinhos na cabeça.)
16. For a Portuguese, something is not “really simple,” it is “bread to bread and cheese to cheese.” (
Pão, pão, queijo, queijo.)
17. A Portuguese does not “die,” he “goes from this one to a better one.” (
Ir desta para melhor.) Or, he “goes off with the pigs.” (
Ir com os porcos.)
18. A Portuguese does not “feel suspicious,” he “has a flea behind his ear.” (
Estar com a pulga atrás da orelha.)
19. A Portuguese is not “worry free,” he “is sitting under banana tree.” (
Estar a sombra da bananeira.)
20. A Portuguese is not “clumsy,” he “looks like a silly cockroach.” (
Barata tonta.)
©
Sandra Guedes 2016
