Today’s post is a callback to a previous one – the one about the word “Colaborador“. While writing it, I noticed another interesting phrase that stimulated some detective work. Thanks to ITeachPTPT, also known as Aprender PT-PT on Facebook. If you’re looking for a teacher, go and have a look!
Enquanto estava a reescrever um texto de há uns dias sobre a palavra “colaborador”, deparei-me com este tweet. Queria averiguar se entendia bem a expressão “Não é modernidade, é exploração” porque não batia certo para mim como anglófono e suspeitava que fosse um erro de digitação.
Se não me engano, isto não tem nada a ver com a exploração que fez Vasco da Gama. (inglês “exploration”) mas trata-se de… Hum… Abusar a diferença de poder ou de conhecimento entre duas pessoas, como, neste caso concreto, uma empresa e o seu empregado (inglês “exploitation”).
Abri o priberam e lá estava a sexta definição de exploração: basicamente tem os dois significados.
For a second there, I thought this comment in the site spam folder was an authentic fan giving me some actual praise for my Açorda attempts a few weeks back. 🙂
Here’s an interesting thing I saw on Instagram and thought would be a good topic to talk about. It’s about the subtle difference of meaning between the portuguese word “colaborador” and the English equivalent “collaborator”. Thanks to Talures for the help with this one.
Uma amiga publicou uma foto da sua lapela com um distintivo que dizia
Colaborador Trabalhador.
Não percebi o significado, porque o cognato inglês de “colaborador” é usado geralmente para traidores que colaboram* com os invasores que ocuparam o seu país nativo. Mas ela explicou e eu li uma página sobre o assunto. Colaborador é uma espécie de jargão corporativo. Algumas empresas nomeiam os empregados de colaboradores, porque trabalhador tem uma conotação de trabalho manual nas fábricas e nas quintas.
Mas há quem não goste da palavra, porque disfarça a relação entre empregador e empregado. Como a minha amiga disse “para fazer passar a ideia que os trabalhadores também são parte da empresa”.
Não é comigo, porque não trabalho numa empresa portuguesa, mas de forma geral, ainda que não goste destas gírias que crescem como um fungo nas reuniões de negócios, não acho assim tão problemático trabalhadores se sentirem parte da empresa – até certo ponto. Desde que a empresa não seja má.
*The corrector suggested changing this to past tense to match the verb later in the sentence but although I can see that’d normally be the right call, I don’t think I agree on this specific case. For example you could imagine a Ukrainian collaborating (present tense) with Russians who invaded (past tense) the country. As she pointed out, it’s probably better to avoid the ambiguity by making it simpler and eliminating the extra verb: “Pessoas que colaboram com os agressores do seu país” or something like that.
Não é colaborador,é trabalhador. Não é dispensado,é despedido. Não é rescisão amigável,é despedimento colectivo. Não é lay-off,é lock-out. Não é flexibilidade,é precariedade. Não é adaptabilidade,é trabalho não pago. Não é modernidade,é exploração. Não é novilíngua, é ideologia. pic.twitter.com/qNIY0oMgom
I’m pretty sure I’ve at least mentioned this song before because it’s so great, but I’ve never got around to doing a translation of it. Amália Rodrigues is an interesting character in her own right, and she’s had a huge influence on musicians, both traditional and avant-garde. This song is about a woman who’s lost her husband at sea and she’s sleeping on the beach waiting for him to come home and feeling like he’s still with her somehow even though everyone tells her its hopeless.
Thank you very much, Monsieur Trenet
Barco Negro (Black Boat)
Portuguese
English
De manhã, que medo que me achasses feia Acordei tremendo deitada na areia Mas logo os teus olhos disseram que não E o sol penetrou no meu coração Mas logo os teus olhos disseram que não E o sol penetrou no meu coração
In the morning, so scared that you’d find me ugly I woke up shaking, lying on the sand But then your eyes told me no And the sun penetrated my heart But then your eyes told me no And the sun penetrated my heart
Vi depois numa rocha uma cruz E o teu barco negro dançava na luz Vi teu braço acenando entre as velas já soltas Dizem as velhas da praia que não voltas
Then I saw a cross on a rock And your black boat was dancing in the light I saw your arm waving between the loose sails The old women at the beach say you’ll never come home
São loucas! São loucas! Eu sei meu amor, que nem chegaste a partir Pois tudo em meu redor me diz Que estás sempre comigo Eu sei, meu amor, que nem chegaste a partir Pois tudo em meu redor me diz Que estás sempre comigo
They’re crazy! They’re crazy! I know, my love that you never even left Because everything around me tells me That you’re always with me I know, my love that you never even left Because everything around me tells me That you’re always with me
No vento que lança areia nos vidros Na água que canta no fogo mortiço No calor do leito dos bancos vazios Dentro do meu peito estás sempre comigo No calor do leito dos bancos vazios Dentro do meu peito estás sempre comigo
In the wind that throws sand against the windows In the water that sings, in the dying fire In the bed of empty benches In my breast, you’re always with me In the bed of empty benches In my breast, you’re always with me
Eu sei, meu amor, que nem chegaste a partir Pois tudo em meu redor me diz Que estás sempre comigo Eu sei, meu amor, que nem chegaste a partir Pois tudo em meu redor me diz Que estás sempre comigo
I know, my love that you never even left Because everything around me tells me That you’re always with me I know, my love that you never even left Because everything around me tells me That you’re always with me
I posted a music video yesterday, and I’ve got a few more lined up. This one doesn’t really ave any lyrics though, so consider it a palate cleanser. Orelha Negra are portuguese band and they’ve put one of their chilled-out tracks over some footage of Vhils doing his craxy explosive artworks. I’ve talked about Vhils before a couple of times and I quite like the effect of combining the two art forms in one.
I’ve already done a translation of an Antonio Zambujo song – Flagrante – but it was in the context of a grammar lesson so I thought I’d come back and have a go at one of his others – Pica do Sete. I mainly chose it because it always bothers me. I think he’s singing about a woman who’s punching his ticket but in the video the woman is a passenger and he’s… well, stalking her, really. And at the end there’s a male conductor, so maybe she’s supposed to be narrating? I dunno, maybe spending some time really getting into the lyrics will straighten it out in my mind.
First of all, the title. As far as I understand it, “o Sete” is the number 7 tram. Pica is a bit trickier and I suggest being careful how you use it because it can mean lots of different things including a spliff (in portugal) or a penis (in brazil) so you know… handle the word with care! Anyway, in this context, it’s the ticket inspector. I think it comes from the verb picar which means to puncture something. You can read more about the life of a “pica” on Lisbon trams in this really good blog post written at around the time the song was released.
Portuguese
English
De manhã cedinho Eu salto do ninho e vou pra paragem De bandolete à espera do sete Mas não pela viagem Eu bem que não queria Mas um certo dia vi-o passar E o meu peito cético Por um pica de elétrico voltou a sonhar
Early in the morning I jump out of my nest and go to the tram stop Wearing an Alice band, waiting for the number 7 But not for the journey I didn’t really want it But one day I saw him pass by And my skeptical heart* Went back to dreaming about a tram conductor
A cada repique Que soa do clique daquele alicate Num modo frenético O peito cético toca a rebate Se o trem descarrila o povo refila e eu fico num sino Pois um mero trajeto no meu caso concreto é já o destino
Every time the bell rings When that clipper makes its clicking sound In a frenetic way The skeptic heart sounds the alarm If the tram derails, the people complain and I’m quite happy** Because, in my case, the route is the destination.
Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira Desta vida vão Mais nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá Que triste fadário e que itinerário tão infeliz Cruzar meu horário com o de um funcionário de um trem da carris
Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 What a sad fate, what an unfortunate timetable To cross my schedule with that of a tram employee
Se eu lhe perguntasse Se tem livre passe pró peito de alguém Vá-se lá saber talvez eu lhe oblitere o peito também Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira desta vida vão Mais nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá
If I asked him If he had a free pass for someone’s heart Who knows, maybe I’ll invalidate*** his heart too Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7
Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira desta vida vão Mas nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá Mas nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá
Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7
* The actual word is “chest” (peito) but “skeptic btreast” sounds weird
** Refilar and Sino both have multiple meanings. I originally thought the passengers are leaving the tram and queuing for the next one, but she is staying in, ignoring everything (metaphorically under a glass bell jar) because she wants to stay where she is. That doesn’t seem to case. Refilar usually means to grumble and complain and that’s what it means here. “Estar num sino” just means to be well-disposed and calm, according to this page. It doesn’t seem to be a very well-known expression though, judging by people’s reactions when I asked.
***Obliterar obviously sounds like obliterate and usually means the same but one of the meanings Priberam gives is to invalidate something by means of a stamp or a mark or by piercing it – so basically what a tram conductor does to a ticket then!
OK, well I think we can be pretty sure that the narrator of the song is the female passenger and she’s got the hots for the male conductor. The singer is just voicing her interior monologue, not stalking her. I’ve highlighted the two words that give the clue: she says she’s wearing a bandolete – an alice band or hairband. Well, men can wear those but it’s unusual, and the woman in the video has one but Zambujo doesn’t. Then fuurther down he says “um pica” not uma pica, so it’s a male conductor.
If I were portuguese and wanted to study the equivalent male phenomenon, I guess I’d have to analyse the old sitcome “On the Buses”. Coincidentally, I’ve recently watched my first episode of that. My daughter is obsessed with Reece Shearsmith at the moment and apparently they are planning to do an On the Buses parody in the current series of Inside Number 9. I’m old but even I’m not old enough to remember it when it was first broadcast.
Further musings about the expression “estar num sino”
I gently pointed out in reddit that it was surprising that quite a well-known song had an expression in it that hardly anyone understood and people seemed to be fine with not knowing what he was in about. Obviously there are plenty of songs in English that are the same (try listening to the lyrics of “Whiter Shade of Pale” sometime for example) so it’s not really surprising, but I thought it was fun to ask if people were actually listening to the lyrics.
Fiz uma pergunta ontem sobre a letra de uma música do António Zambujo. Há uma expressão na canção que diz “Fico num sino” que mal entendi*. O que mais me marcou foi o facto de os** respondentes também não saberem o significado da frase. Mas… É uma canção bem conhecida não é? Será que grande parte das pessoas ouviram a música e pensaram “Pois é, está presa*** numa campainha. Faz todo o sentido”
* mal entendi meaning I barely understood it. Maybe should have written “entendi mal” (i misunderstood it) or não entendi (i didn’t understand it) to be more accurate.
**de and os are separate here because “o facto de” is a sort of standalone expression.
*** apesar do cantor ser masculino a narradora da canção não é.
Quite a lot has changed in the world of Portuguese learning in the last year or so, so I’ve updated all my resource pages, adding new audiobooks, graphic novels, podcasts and tricks I’ve come across in my language learning journey. If you’re new to the site, there are five of them and they are….
The Portuguese Audiobooks Page – where I have tried to list every source on the Interwebs for european portuguese audio books. It’s mostly paid of course, but there are a few free ones too if you’re on a budget. I love audiobooks and I couldn’t be happier to see how the number of available books has grown since the first edition of this page. We still have a long way to go before I’d say we’re spoiled for choice, but it’s a start!
The Language Hacking Page – The idea behind language hacking is to get out of a textbook mentality and into really using the language, so these aren’t study guides per se, just little things you can do to boost the background level of portuguese in your life. If you get it right, you can strengthen your grasp of what you’ve already learned, as well as absorbing a lot of useful vocabulary without feeling like you’re making a lot of effort.
The Online Learning Resources Page – where you’ll find everything I know about YouTube channels, websites, apps and virtual courses for new and not so-new learners. I’ve made quite a lot of edits here – dropped a youtube channel that no longer exists, as well as adding in a couple of new ones. Quite a lot has changed in teh world of apps too.
The Portuguese Graphic Novels Page – where you’ll find (yes, you guessed it!) a whole load of comics and graphic novels I’ve read in portuguese. I’m a huge fan of these and think they’re a brilliant way of getting into reading in portuguese, simply because the illustrations give you enough context that you can often suss out the meaning of unfamiliar words without having to constantly refer to the dictionary.
The Portuguese Study Guides Page – where I’ve listed and rated all the exercise books and textbooks I’ve used over the years. Some are old, some new, some basic, some advanced, and I’ve included my favourite audio course too.
Phrase of the day: “Lei Da Rolha”. Law of the cork. It’s equivalent to a gagging order, apparently. Not necessarily a full legal order, but might apply to a situation where a political leader tells his party members not to shoot their mouths off, say.
Há uns dias, escrevi um texto sobre uma receita portuguesa mas uma amiga informou-me que a receita era uma tradução e que faltava autenticidade. Para restabelecer a minha reputação, comprei estes pastéis autênticos que encontrei no supermercado perto do nosso covil.
Faço anos no dia 6 de Maio mas ninguém quer saber porque um gajo irá receber um novo chapéu cintilante naquele dia. Não é nada justo.
By the way, someone turned up to the celebrations with an old, monarchist flag. You can see it at the bottom of this pic.
Para mim, a bandeira da República é melhor. O vermelho e o verde a rodear o brasão de armas combinam para dar um efeito marcante. A monárquica não é nada mal, mas prefiro as cores mais fortes.
Luso 