Christmas under the Southern Cross - Introduction to Brazilian Portuguese (5.)

The joys and sorrows of puns across languages interest me for several reasons:

 

I'm a wife and mom in a bilingual family, I'm an avid traveler who enjoys observing the nuances of language and meaning in different countries, and I'm a copywriter working primarily with Portuguese and Czech. When translating Brazilian music into English, I often work with idioms and phrases typical not only of the language but also of the culture, and sometimes go quite deep.

 

So no lyric jokes and puns based on similar pronunciation - á la songs by the famous band Těžkej Pokondr. Although that could also be interesting, as I found out a few days ago.

 

There are quite a few words in Portuguese that sound similar in pronunciation to Czech words. However, they mean something completely different - judge for yourself (I'm deliberately writing in capital letters how to pronounce it, to make it easier for you):

 

TAKY = for us also, also - for Brazilians "tá aqui" = it's here, or someone is here

 

VODA = for us the basic liquid, for Brazilians "vou dar" = something I give or give to someone

 

PRAGA = for us the international name for Prague, for Brazilians a troublesome insect or generally something unpleasant

 

PANÁK = for us usually a pinch of something stronger to warm up, for Brazilians SHOT means stupid

 

BUNDA = for us a winter outfit, for Brazilians an ass

 

LÁSKO = for us a term of endearment, for Brazilians Lasco- literally "You f***ed things up!"

(just to explain why I've learned to stop calling my husband "love" in public)

 

ŠUP ŠUP = for us an incentive to act faster, for Brazilians an ice cream or lollipop

 

FUSKA = for a Czech a sock, for a Brazilian FUSCA - a type of car, concretely Volkswagen Beetle

 

And a little quiz at the end - can anyone try to guess what the word pronounced KOSHILANDO means?

It doesn't have that much in common with our Czech shirt, although...

 

Hint: You can do it almost anywhere, but the best way is probably traditionally in bed.
The answer? In the next article.