“O isco, o anzol e a chumbada”: I think I’ve seen this before but it jumped out at me because we have a bit of intra-family rivalry over the Connections game in the New York Times and on the day I read this, there had been a trap involving the words “hook”, “line” and “sinker”, which is what this means of course
Let the dust settle. Easy.
I had to ask around about this one*. The speaker, Fonseca, is siding with management and Claudia is much more supportive of the coup that is in progress as they’re talking. He obviously blames her (rather unjustly, as far as I can tell) for what is going on, but one way or the other, they are definitely forming into rival camps, according to whether or not they’d support the revolution, so there’s a lot of class animosity behind the words, which is why he’s being such a twat.
He calls her “Sua vendida” (you traitor, you person who has sold herself) and then, slightly confusingly, “Seu refugo de calças”. You what now? You pile of leftover, defective trousers? I asked reddit what was going on. He’s calling her a refugo, and she’s wearing trousers, so he’s more or less saying “your a junk heap on legs” or “you’re a walking pile of garbage” or words to that effect.
As soon as I was told that, I asked myself whether there was a bit of machismo entering into the equation. The play takes place in the seventies, and I wondered if, by referring to her stereotypically male clothes, he was implying some sort of lack of femininity, ugliness, dowdiness, lesbianism, or something like that. I dunno. I suggested it and people didn’t seem convinced, but maybe they’re young and don’t know what people were actually like in the seventies. I do, and I can 100% imagine that. I don’t know, Portugal isn’t Britain, but I’m not ruling it out.
Anyway, don’t worry about her, the revolution wins in the end. Whoops! Spoilers!
*UPDATE
In a shocking turn of events, it turns out that the assembled wise owls of Reddit might have misled me about “refugo de calças”. I probabky should have guessed. The suggestion above is a bit modern-sounding. It’s a remendo – a patch – on some trousers that would otherwise have fine in the bin because they’re worn out in the crotch. So by implication, it’s the lowest if the low. This definitely sounds more in keeping with the general tone. Thanks to Cristina for pointing this out.
Luso 