Category: English
Happy Christmas
I hope one of these lads brings you something nice tomorrow.
Tickling the Brazilians
Tão gostoso!
My wife is making me watch this Madeiran cooking channel. I was unsure at first because the accent and the regionalismos were hard to get past, but it’s great. She’s hamming it up a bit, apparently: she’s playing a character of an old-time islander. I guess in English terms it’d be like someone doing a strong Welsh accent.
The food looks flippin’ great though: traditional and full of delicious calories. The camera work is fantastic and I would give my right arm for her massive clay mixing bowl. And although I hardly understand her dialogue I’m enjoying trying.
Also sort of hoping Mrs L will cook some of these things…
Well This Looks Interesting
It came up in my YouTube feed and I’ve no idea how I’m going to be able to watch it but I’m definitely going to try. The empty nest theme strikes a chord since our baby left home for uni this year. Speaking of which, she’s coming home for Christmas later today and I’m a very happy daddy!
Errant Preposition Hearts Club Band
Corrections from Português Outra Vez
Ele entrou na igreja, aproximou-se dum ícone, beijou-o, persignou-se e saiu, balbuciando algo. I wrote “aproximou-se a”. Also, persignar-se (genuflected) was a new word for me!
Vocês vão para o Egito?! Só podem estar a entrar connosco (I hadn’t the faintest idea what this was even meant to be saying so took a total guess on both the verb and the preposition)
Se quisesses ser menos obeso, obedecerias às prescrições do doutor Nunes. (I used the imperative tense, but that doesn’t make sense following in from the imperfect subjunctive)
Em 2003, eu formei-me em Filologia Eslava pela Universidade de Bratislava. (i used “na” as the second preposition)
The Greatest Stôra Ever Told
Here’s a little detail I spotted in o Mangusto. The pupils in this PE class refer to their teachers as stôr and stôra. I thought it seemed weird as an abbreviation for professor(a), because where does the t come from, but apparently it is short for “Senhor(a) Doutor(a)”
While the Devil Rubs His Eye
But Me No Buts
Mangas-de-Alpaca
I spotted this phrase in a book I’m reading, referring to “uma comissão de oficiais técnicos”. The speaker starts his rant by exclaiming “Baboseiras!” which I took as being related to “babar” (to drool) which it is, and so he obviously doesn’t have a high opinion of these people. OK, so I’m not expecting anything good, but what does it actually mean?
Mangas-de-alpaca were sleeves worn by clerks on their lower arms to protect their clothes from getting scratched and ink-stained during service. By extension, the term can be used pejoratively to describe a bureaucrat or a pen-pusher in general.
Whether or not you use hyphens is usually important and the AO tends to be quite prescriptive. I’ve used hyphens here because that’s how Priberam spells it but neither Wikipedia or the book use hyphens, so I’m not really sure who’s correct!
Luso 