This aspect of portuguese is seldom part of standard lessons. Maybe it should be?
Tag: Video
Capitão Fausto – Na-Na-Nada
Welcome back to the Capitão Fausto Fan Blog! It’s still Friday night as I write this, and the translation I did for yesterday’s blog was so short I thought I’d try another
| Português | Inglês |
|---|---|
| Quando aqui chegou Foi porque ainda não estava Nada se apagou enquanto eu protestava E às tantas sossegou Explicaram que afinal não era nada | When she* got here It was because she wasn’t here yet Nothing stopped while I was protesting And at last it calmed down They explained that in the end it was nothing |
| Andar em contramão Calçar a botifarra Quero ouvir calão e o som de uma guitarra Se dás, eu também dou Se gritas muito, eu dou-te uma dentada | Going against the flow Putting on my clumpy boots I want to hear slang and the sound of a guitar If you give I’ll give too If you scream, I’ll bite you |
| Cheguei a casa e sossegou Explicaram que afinal não era na-na-na-na nada Na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na | I got home and chilled out They explained that in the end it was no-no-no-no-nothing, no-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing |
| Quem me der a mão é porque quer que eu nunca caia Pode ser que queira vir comigo até à praia Ou pode ser que não, de qualquer forma vai ter de entender Que ainda há muita coisa pra aprender Algumas delas servirão Mas outras nunca vão servir pra na-na-na-na nada | Whoever gives me their hand, its because they don’t want me to ever fall Maybe they want to come to the beach with me Or maybe not. Somehow she’ll have to understand That there’s still a lot to learn Some of them will be OK But others are good for nothing |
| Na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na nada, na-na-na-na-na-na | No-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing No-no-no-no-nothing no-no-no-no-nothing |
*Honestly, it’s anybody’s guess what pronouns to use in most of this song. Who or what is he on about? Are those imperfect verbs in the first or third person? Can we even get an adjective with an ending that tells us what gender we’re dealing with? Throw me a frickin’ bone here!
OK, I think I’m sick of them again now,
This Made Me Giggle
I love a dad joke and this is a good example of the genre. It’s a good example of how prepositions in Portuguese are often different from what we’d expect on English. Where we would say “You can count on me” as a way of saying I’ll always be there when you need me, in Portuguese you say “Podes contar comigo” (You can count with me”. So…
Vocabulary of the Day
Fanhoso é uma palavra desconhecida mas é muito evidente o que quer dizer neste contexto não é?
Natércia
Tenho uma cunhada que se chama Natércia, e eu, que não tenho noção, achei que era equivalente a Natasha, ou Natalie, mas há uns dias a minha esposa partilhou este vídeo do linguista Marco Neves. Ela disse-me que a mãe delas explicou a origem quando eram jovens mas eu não fazia ideia!
E eis o poema (ou pelo menos um poema, talvez haja mais!)
Pouco te Ama
Na metade do Céu subido ardia
O claro, almo Pastor, quando deixavam
O verde pasto as cabras, e buscavam
A frescura suave da água fria.
Com a folha das árvores, sombria,
Do raio ardente as aves se amparavam;
O módulo cantar, de que cessavam,
Só nas roucas cigarras se sentia.
Quando Liso Pastor, num campo verde,
Natércia, crua Ninfa, só buscava
Com mil suspiros tristes que derrama.
Porque te vás de quem por ti se perde,
Para quem pouco te ama? (suspirava)
E o eco lhe responde: Pouco te ama.
O que mais me chamou a atenção neste vídeo é que o meu irmão, sempre que envia cartas natalícias à minha esposa escreve o nome dela “Caterina” e eu digo “ó rapaz” (é mais novo do que eu: um menino com 51 anos) “ó rapaz, escreve-se…”
“Colin, why are you ranting in portuguese” retorque ele
“Oh sorry” digo “I mean it’s spelled C-A-T-A-R-I-N-A, you silly sausage”
Mas já sabemos que o nome era escrito com “E” antigamente, portanto ainda que ele erre, erra com o grande Camões, em vez de ser certinho com o seu irmão mais velho.
Cães de Loiça
I heard this on Instagram and I was entranced, and had to hear the whole thing. The name of the band is Rouxinol Faduncho, which is like “Bad Fado Nightingale”, which sets expectations right from the start. Let’s see what the hell is going on in the lyrics.
| (Ora o público pediu, e mais aderiu e até ganiu nesta campanha internacional e até europeia intitulada: Help Me a Pôr os Cães de Loiça a Sorrir a “Gane”. A gane quer dizer a sorrir a gane ou a ganir. tem sido, Maravilhoso…) | Well, the public asked and even subscribed and even whined in this International, and even european campaign entitled Help me make china dogs smile a gane*. A gane means smile until whine or while howling. It has been marvelous. |
| Oi pra o sofrimento um bom remédio há afinal Ajudem os cães de loiça, esse pobre animal Ao vê-lo feroz no portão, eu sempre me comovo Se a tinta cair ao chão, dou-lhe mais uma demão** e ele fica como novo | Hey, finally there’s a remedy for suffering China dogs help, that poor animal When I see them, ferocious at the gate, i always feel moved If the paint falls on the flour, I’ll give it some more One more coat and he’ll be good as new |
| Se gostas de animais, cães de loiça Que não sujem os quintais, cães de loiça São “bobbies” bestiais, cães de loiça São cãezinhos mal tratados, de olhos esbugalhados e nada saltitões Nunca se vão babar, nem ganir, nem ladrar, nem ferrar os ladrões | If you like animals, china dogs That don’t dirty the garden, china dogs They are beastly “bobbies”, china dogs They are badly treated little dogs with googly eyes and not at all frisky They never drool or whine or bark or injure burglars |
| Por serem portugueses e parecidos com o Toy Que os restaurantes chineses não fazem deles “chopsói” Não largam pelos ou pena, nunca roem os sofás Reparem bem nesta cena, são estrelas de cinema Cento e um Dalmatás | Because they are Portuguese, and look like Toy Because chinese restaurants don’t turn them into chop suey*** They don’t drop hairs or feathers, they never chew sofas Pay attention to this scene, they are stars of cinema 101 Dalmatians |
| Se gostas de animais, cães de loiça Que não sujem os quintais, cães de loiça São “bobbies” bestiais, cães de loiça São cãezinhos mal tratados, de olhos esbugalhados e nada saltitões Nunca se vão babar, nem ganir, nem ladrar, nem ferrar os ladrões | If you like animals, china dogs That don’t dirty the garden, china dogs They are beastly “bobbies”, china dogs They are badly treated little dogs with googly eyes and not at all frisky They never drool or whine or bark or injure burglars |
| (Aquilo é uma maravilha, aquilo corre corre… é uma companhia… pfff! e aquilo tem que se fazer, tem que se levar um saquinho sempre para apanhar os cócós Depois… Há que manter… que isto da camada do ozoto está a acabar, não é? temos que manter isto… planeta limpo… mas são muito engraça… e fofos? ui!) | That’s amazing, it runs… it’s company… pff!! And you know what you have to do, you have to bring a little bag with you every time to hold its poo afterwards, you have to maintain… because of this thing about the ozogen**** layer disappearing, right? We have to keep this planet clean, but they are very funny… and cute? Ui! |
| Se gostas de animais, cães de loiça Que não sujem os quintais, cães de loiça São “bobbies” bestiais, cães de loiça São cãezinhos mal tratados, de olhos esbugalhados e nada saltitões Nunca se vão babar, nem ganir, nem ladrar, nem ferrar os ladrões | If you like animals, china dogs That don’t dirty the garden, china dogs They are beastly “bobbies”, china dogs They are badly treated little dogs with googly eyes and not at all frisky They never drool or whine or bark or injure burglars |
*I actually googled “sorrir a gane”, but I’m pretty sure this is a pun. The name of the campaign starts with “help me” so I guess “a gane” is meant to sound like “again”. Help me make the dogs smile again, where “gane” is the third person singular of the verb “ganir” – to whine. I went and looked at the release date, confidently expecting it would be in or after 2016, so playing on a certain well-known catch-phrase of that absolute fuckwit the Americans have elected to pretend to be a president and plunge themselves further into decline. But no – it was released in 2007, so they obviously just hit on a pun that would become much more topical and more depressing 9 years later.
** Wow, I was sure this was a typo in the lyrics and it should be “de mão” (ie, he’s painting it by hand) but no, uma demão is a coat of paint or a retouch.
***😬
****I think the original “ozoto” is a deliberate mistake, mixing Ozono (ozone) and Azoto (nitrogen) so I have translated it in the same way.
Boas Entradas
I have to admit I had no idea about some of these meanings
Inter-City Rivalry
This song was released a year ago but I haven’t got around to translating it. It was written by Capicua, who says on Instagram that Ana Bacalhau had challenged her to write a sort of “Let’s Call The Whole Thing off” based on different ways of speaking between Lisboa and Porto.
Hm, I thought it would be fun to translate but now I think it might be a struggle. It’s mainly giving words that mean the same in the two cities, so the translations will all be like “cheese is cheese” won’t they? Oh god… oh well, let’s see how it goes.
In the orange corner, representing Lisboa, Ana “I used to be in Deolinda, you know” Bacalhau and in the green corner, representing Porto, Cláudia “I made a forgettable Eurovision song” Pascoal.
Imperial é Fino
| Português | Ingês |
|---|---|
| Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Que algo se perde na nossa tradução? Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Ó bacalhau, eu vou-te explicar Hum, conta! | Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? That something gets lost in our translation Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? Hey, Bacalhau, I’m going explain to you Er… bill please! |
| Dizes que não tens qualquer sotaque Isto não é um ataque, mas tens falta de noção E depois dizes Pra não ser de surpresa Eu tufono-te às dezoito pra marcar a reunião Olha quem fala, tu dizes à minha beira Com pronúncia da ribeira quando estás ao pé de mim Dizes pega em vez de toma Dizes bufa em vez de sopra, olha a lana, gola ialta e coisa assim | You say you don’t have an accent This isn’t an attack but you’ve no clue And then you say For it not to be a surprise, I should “tuphone” you at 6PM to arrange the meeting Look who’s talking, you say “à minha beira” With your ribeira accent when you’re next to me You say grab instead of take You say puff instead of blow, “look at IAna“, “gola ialta”* and things like that |
| Imperial é fino, tênis é sapatilha Bica é cimbalino, chicla é pastilha Aloquete é cadeado, e capuz, carapuço Estrugido é refogado, chapéu de chuva é chuço Se trolha é pedreiro, bueiro é sarjeta Sertã é frigideira e cabide é cruzeta | Beer is beer, Trainer is trainer Espresso is espresso, chewing gum is chewing gum Padlock is padlock, Hood is hood Fried is fried, umbrella is umbrella Stonemason is stonemason, gutter is gutter Saucepan is saucepan and hatstand is hatstand** |
| Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Que algo se perde na nossa tradução? Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? E mais te digo! Oh pá! | Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? That something gets lost in our translation Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? And another thing Oh blimey! |
| Já tu dizes são quaise treuze E já ouvi várias vezes tira o téni do sófá O lisboeta come letras Tira o u pra dizer pôco, diz óviste, é muita lôco Assim não dá! Tretas, pra ti mãe tem cinco letras Dizer cumo é o cúmulo e tu sabes que assim é Tu dizes testo e eu tampa Eu digo coxo e tu manco e quando dizes tótil, eu bué | You just say it’s arlmust thorteen And I’ve heard a few times take your shoe off the sófá Lisboetas swallow letters Takes the U away t say pôco, say óviste and very lôco It’s no good like that Rubbish! For you, mum has 5 letters To say “cumo” is the accumulation and you know that’s how it is You say lid and I say lid I say lame and you lame and when yiou say tótil***, I say bué |
| Imperial é fino, tênis é sapatilha Bica é cimbalino, chicla é pastilha Aloquete é cadeado, e capuz, carapuço Estrugido é refugado, chapéu de chuva é chuço Se trolha é pedreiro, bueiro é sarjeta Sertã é frigideira e cabide é cruzeta | Beer is beer, Trainer is trainer Espresso is espresso, chewing gum is chewing gum Padlock is padlock, Hood is hood Fried is fried, umbrella is umbrella Stonemason is stonemason, gutter is gutter Saucepan is saucepan and hatstand is hatstand |
| Contigo o tão vira tom, contigo o são vira som E depois bom vira bão Pra mim o v vira b, para ti lesboa é com e Oblá e então? Ouve, não sou eu que falo torto, toda a gente me entende Não é meu o defeito S’eu falo à porto é meu direito e se o teu ouvido é mouco O meu sotaque é perfeito Se digo fala bem é pra tu seres meiguinha Como eu sou também, no meu jeito alfacinha E quando eu digo “bem” eu tou-te a dizer para “bires” E eu até te falo bem, só é pena não me ouvires E quando eu digo vem eu tou-te a dizer para vires E eu até te falo bem, só é pena não me ouvires | With you, tão becomes tom, with you são becomes som And then bom becomes bão With me, the V becomes a B, for you Lesboa is with an E Oblá so what? It’s not me that talks weird. Everyone understands It’s not my problem If I speak Porto-style, it’s my right And if your ear is deaf My accent is perfect If I say speak properly it’s just to make you more amenable Like me, with my Alfacinha style And when I say well, I’m just doing it to make you come to me**** And I speak really well. It’s just a shame you can’t hear me. And when I say come I’m saying you should come. And I speak really well. It’s just a shame you can’t hear me. |
| Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Que algo se perde na nossa tradução? Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Imperial é fino, imperial é fino Imperial é fino, imperial é fino, fino, fino- Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? Que algo se perde na nossa tradução? Ah, e quê? Ah, então? Ah, o quê? | Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? That something gets lost in our translation Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? Beer is beer, Beer is beer Beer is beer, Beer is beer Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? That something gets lost in our translation Ah, and what? Ah, so? Ah, what? |
*I couldn’t work out what was going on here so I asked about it on Insta and Capicua herself answered my question! Apparently in Porto if one word ends in A and the next word starts in A, they put an I in between so Olha a IAna = Olha a Ana, Gola Ialta = Gola Alta (a polo neck or turtle neck). I like Portugal. I’m pretty sure an equivalently famous person in Britain wouldn’t take time out to explain linguistic quirks to old farts on Instagram!
**Did somebody say hatstand?
***How have i never seen this word before?
****Not sure about this, My reasoning is that it’s vires (personal infinitive of vir) with the v changed to a b. I don’t know if the next-but-one line confirms or refutes the theory though!
As Meninas da Ribeira do Sado
This jumped out at me on Instagram yesterday. I didn’t know the song so I googled it and I think I like the drag version better than the original. It’s Sincera Mente, who I mentioned a few days ago, with another drag queen who was on a talent show, I think…? I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. Anyway, they both have good voices and I thought I’d translate it because why not? The video only has the first verses and the chorus, but I’ll include the other two verses from the original
| 🇵🇹 | 🇬🇧 |
|---|---|
| Estrala a bomba E o foguete vai no ar Arrebenta e fica todo queimado Não há ninguém que baile mais bem Que as meninas da ribeira do Sado | The bomb explodes And the rocket goes up It bursts and burns up Nobody dances better Than the girls of the Sado valley* |
| As meninas da ribeira do Sado é que é Lavram na terra com as unhas dos pés As meninas da ribeira do Sado São como as ovelhas Têm carrapatos atrás das orelhas | The girls of the Sado valley are the ones They plough the earth with their toenails The girls of the Sado valley Are like sheep They have ticks behind their ears. |
| Era um daqueles dias bem chalados Em que o sol batia forte nas cabeças As meninas viram que eu estava apanhado E disseram: Nunca mais cá apareças | It was one of those crazy days The sun was beating down on our heads The girls saw I was caught And said “Don’t come around here again” |
| Mas voltei e entretive-me a bailar com três Queriam que eu fosse atrás no convés Mas não fui e mandei-as irem dar banho ao meu canário Que bateu as botas com dores num ovário | But I returned and entertained myself, dancing with three of them They wanted me to go to the back of the deck But I didn’t and told them to bathe my canary Who had died of pain in the ovary** |
*I’m going to translate “Ribeira do Sado” as “The Sado Valley” because even though Ribeira is a smallish river, saying they’re the Sado river girls makes them sound like mermaids. I think it’s more like the area around the river, so that’s what I’ve gone with.
**Er… well, it was going well until the end there. What the hell happened in the last verse? I asked around and the consensus seems to be that going “atrás no convés” was a euphemism for going somewhere quiet to canoodle, but it was far from certain. In the next line, telling someone too go and give the dog a bath is like telling them to go and comb monkeys or go and bother Camões, Go away in other words. But they changed it to a canary and a terminal illness just to make it more silly.
Luso 