Ceca e Meca

I was intrigued by this sentence. Ceca e Meca? What the heca… um… I mean what the heck’re those?

Meca is easy – it’s just what we would call Mecca. Ceca needs a little more digging: it’s an arab word that means treasure-house, but it was the popular name of the great mosque in Córdova during the muslim occupation of the iberian peninsula. So according to Ciberdúvidas, the expression “correr Ceca e Meca” recalls the pilgrimages made by arabs between the holy places in southern europe and in the middle east itself. In other words, it means you’ve been all over, you’re well-traveled.

What about the rest though? Já vi muita coisa – I’ve seen a lot. Não andei a comer palha – I haven’t just been eating hay (this seems to be related to the expression “todo o burro come palha” – she just means she doesn’t just believe what she’s told). Corri Ceca e Meca e aprendi com a vida – I’ve been all round the world and I’ve learned about life.

I’m not really sure about “É no lombo que elas nos doem”. Lombo is sometimes translated as loin, but it’s really about the area in the upper back, below the shoulder blades, either as a cut of meat or on the human body. So… i think she’s saying something like “They stab you in the back”. Not sure though. Doer means hurt, not stab. Maybe she just means things wear you out and make your back ache…? Hm, I think I might askabout that one. I’ll keep you posted.