European vs. Brazilian Portuguese:
A Small Differentiating Glossary

by Bruno Oliveira Maroneze

• absolutamente: EP: “absolutely”. BP: “absolutely not”.
• bizarro: EP: “smart”, “elegant”, or “kind”. BP: “weird”, “bizarre”.
• cacete: EP: a kind of bread (French stick). BP: obscene word, meaning “penis”.
• fa(c)to: a phonetic-phonological problem. In BP, the group [ct] was reduced to [t]. So, the word which in EP is pronounced ['faktu], in Brazil is pronounced ['fatu]. In EP, facto means “event”, and fato means “costume”, “suit”. In BP, fato (<= facto) means only “event”; for “costume” or “suit” the word terno is used.
• freguesia: EP: an administrative division of the towns. BP: “clientele”, “customers”.
• fresco and frio: two words that refer to low temperatures. In general, frio means “cold”, and fresco means “fresh”; frio is colder than fresco. But in EP, when one asks for água fresca, he wants “cold water”.
• lousa: EP: “gravestone”. BP: “blackboard”
• mama and peito: these words refer to the breasts. Peito may also refer to the chest (also for men). In BP, mama is a technical term (cáncer de mama: breast cancer); peito is an obscene word (que peitos grandes!: what huge tits!). In EP, mama is used in this obscene sense (que grandes mamas!: what huge tits!)
• moça and rapariga: in BP, moça is used to refer to young ladies (aquela moça: that young lady); in EP, the word is considered rude (because it was used to refer to servants); instead, the words senhorita (little lady), menina (girl) or rapariga may be used. Rapariga means “young lady” in EP, but in BP, means “concubine” (in an offensive sense) or even “prostitute”.
• puto: EP: “boy”. BP: “male homosexual” (in BP, puto is considered the masculine form of puta “prostitute”); also used to offend a man (aquele puto!: that son of a b****!); puto may also mean “money” in negative emphatic sentences like não tenho um puto!: “I don’t have any money!)
• seis and meia: seis is the common word for “six”; meia (litterally “half”) is used only in BP, particularly when saying phone numbers (meia comes from the expression meia dúzia, “half dozen”).
• talho: EP: “butcher’s shop”. BP: “cutting”
• tamanduá and papa-formigas: this example illustrates the utilisation of indian names in BP. These two words refer to the mammal known in English as “ant-eater”. Tamanduá comes from Tupi, and is used only in BP; in EP, the animal is called papa-formigas (literally, “ant-eater”, “the one who eats ants”).
• trem and comboio: in BP, trem means “train”, and comboio means “a group of transport vehicles”, “a convoy” (um comboio de ônibus: a group of buses). In EP, trem is not used; instead, they use comboio for “train”.

© 2001  Written for Orbis Latinus by Bruno Oliveira Maroneze.