A Brazilian does not ‘give up,’ he ‘takes his little horse away from the rain.’
A Brazilian does not do something ‘to show off,’ he does it ‘so the English can see it.’
A Brazilian does not just ‘shut up and listen to things he does not like,’ he ‘swallows frogs.’
A Brazilian does not tell you to ‘piss off,’ he tells you ‘to go to the place where Judas lost his boots.’
For a Brazilian, something is not ‘really simple,’ it is ‘bread to bread and cheese to cheese.’
A Brazilian does not ‘die,’ he ‘goes from this one to a better one.’
A Brazilian does not ‘feel suspicious,’ he ‘has a flea behind his ear’.
Instead of ‘Can I help you?,’ a Brazilian says ‘Because no?’
In Rio, a Brazilian does not ‘leave’ a place, he ‘leaks.’ As in ‘I am leaking.’
In Rio you do not ‘disembark from the bus,’ you ‘leap from the bus.’ It is an expression, but sometimes it could become literal.
A Brazilian is not ‘clumsy,’ he ‘looks like a silly cockroach’.
A Brazilian does not say ‘You’re kidding!’ or ‘You’re joking!,’ he says ‘Talk seriously!’, laughing.
A Brazilian does not say ‘You’re welcome’ after a ‘thank you,’ he says ‘Imagine it!’
Jornalista, 44, com mestrado (2011) e doutorado (2015) em Comunicação e Cultura pela UFRJ. É autor de três livros: o primeiro sobre cidadania, direitos humanos e internet, e os dois demais sobre a história da imigração na imprensa brasileira (todos disponíveis em https://amzn.to/3ce8Y6h). Saiba mais: https://gustavobarreto.me/