Opa! Oba! Eba! Eta!
Oba! …er… Opa? Anyone confused yet? I know I am! Believe it or not, what I’m trying to say is “hello”. Let me explain (or at least try to).
When I was a kid growing up in southern England, the casual, chilled-out way to say hello was to say “Alright?”. The correct response was not “Yes I’m fine thanks… well, except for this bruise on my leg from football”. Oh no. The correct response would be “Alright?” straight back! Weird right? Someone asks you a question and you just ignore it and ask the exact same question back! I didn’t encounter this form of greeting until I was 12 or 13 and at first I found the whole thing a bit confusing.
Well, as we discussed recently, Brazilians often use a similar structure for their greetings too, but it’s not always quite that simple!
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Opa!
Let’s look at “Opa!” first. This seems to be quite an international phrase – certainly it is also used in Spanish speaking countries and also in Greece. I suspect that the French houp-là, (an exclamation) is also related and who knows, maybe even the English “Whoops!”. This is a real multi-purpose phrase.
- It can be used to say a cheery hello, especially for an unexpected meeting.
- If you almost bump into someone when you turn a corner, they may well exclaim “Opa!” as they take evasive manoeuvres!
- It can also be used in a similar way to the English “Oopsy-daisy” in an attempt to avoid tears when a child falls over.
- I’ve heard it used when someone is helping a driver reverse into a parking space, as in “OK, stop now!”
- Finally, let’s not forget the Breadman, who combines it with the word for Baker, “Padeiro” to make his famous morning call:
Oba!
At first, when I heard Oba, I thought that people were just saying Opa, but this one is actually slightly different.
- Can be used as a very short way of saying Hi. According to Brazilian Soul, this one is particularly popular with old timers. In my experience, people use this to say Hi when they’re not expecting to stop and talk. A kind of Hi-Bye combo.
- Oba can also be used as a congratulation/celebration, for example, when a child unwraps a birthday present: 5 year old kid finds he has been given a new bike – everyone else goes “OBA!”.
Eba!
Eba is a word I only discovered recently. Is it really used that rarely? Or did it just slip past my attention? I suspect it is the latter case – have you ever noticed how once you learn a new word, you suddenly notice it all the time? Anyway, as far as I know, Eba has just one meaning:
- Eba is just like the celebration/congratulation version of Oba. Clear?
Eta!
OK, stay with me people, we’re nearly done. Eta is yet another exclamation, this time with an added sense of surprise.
- Imagine someone comes bursting into the house and is trying to tell you some amazing/shocking news. They’re so excited that they are stumbling over their words (it’s a standard soap opera scene). At this point you can pull out something like “Eta! Calma aí!” (Hey hey hey! Calm down!).
Seeing as it’s Friday (Eba!), let’s listen to Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes singing a song that is absolutely littered with Obas!
When selecting this song, I decided to check the lyrics to see if they were using “Opa” or “Oba”. Turns out it is Oba, but even though I’ve listened to this song many times, I got a surprise when I saw the lyrics written down on paper. Did anyone else know about this?! :
[expand title=”Lyrics: Bat Macumba”]
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba oh
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macum
Bat Macumba ê ê, Batman
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat
Bat Macumba ê ê, Ba
Bat Macumba ê ê
Bat Macumba ê
Bat Macumba
Bat Macum
Batman
Bat
Ba
Bat
Bat Ma
Bat Macum
Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê
Bat Macumba ê ê
Bat Macumba ê ê, Ba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat
Bat Macumba ê ê, Batman
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macum
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba oh
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá![/expand]
Great post!
I love “Bat Macumba,” but prefer the version on “Tropicália Ou Panis Et Circensis.” It’s a little faster and has more going on instrumentally:
The listed singer is Gilberto Gil, but Os Mutantes were also involved in the album along with Caetano Veloso, Nara Leão, Gal Costa, and Tom Zé.
I’ve been hoping you’d do a full track-by-track review of “Tropicália” because it’s such a great album and more people should know about it. There is not a bad song on the entire album. I had to order my copy from CDJapan because I couldn’t find it either as a CD or digital download here in the US.
I noticed the shape of the lyrics when I was pasting them into iTunes (not that they’re hard to learn lol). Just one more thing to love about the song, and the album.
Thanks Phil – definitely time to do some more reviews I think! I’ve been meaning to say, I really liked your review of Raul Seixas’ Krig-ha, Bandolo! – great recommendation. It is now a firm favourite! Tropicália is great isn’t it? I’ll put it on my list! :D
Below is a video that helps in comprehending the vocab you have put forth, just change the order of the words featured in the title of your post to the following sequence – Opa, Eta, Eba, Oba – (uttered by the agent commiting the action).
Btw Tom don’t fret about the difficulties of learning Portuguese: It could be worse – http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2012/10/old-and-new-finnish-grammar.html
Now learning that language must be quite an endeavor (it just never *finishes* I suppose).
Woah!
That “woah” refers both to the inpenetrability of Finnish and also to that horrible pun… ;)
Always good to remember there’s someone worse off than you.
One of the reasons the song is famous is because of how the lyrics are arranged Tom! Easy to pick the trick if you’re more familiar with spoken Portuguese I guess… kind of similar to ‘moro num pais tropical’ in which Jorge picks only the first (and sometimes second) syllable in each word of the song to sing the second strofe: ‘mo num pa tro-pi” but I digress…
Could they be any more subversive? No wonder the dictators of the time were so paranoid, thinking there were secret messages going around! E censura neles…
About ‘oba’ I say it every time the weather is nice enough for beach time :) which has been very often these days.
But you forgot “Epa!” which is kind of “hold on, what are you saying?”
And also ‘Eita” such as “Eita! I didn’t know that could happen!”
more confused yet?
:D
Ha ha! Yeah, now I feel silly! I guess I just never really paid much attention – I just sang “Bat Macumba é é!” for the next 2 days after hearing it! :D
Ah, I meant to mention Eita – Mrs Eat Rio says she likes to use that one. There is an “Epa” too? This is too much… ;)
When my brother was in Germany an old man bumped into him on the street.. My brother reacted spontaneoulsly with an “Opa ! ” The poor man looked scared at him (opa = old pa, grandfather).
Oh yeah! That’s funny – I was looking to see if there were any images that might be interesting/useful for Opa, but all Google brought back was pictures of old men!! :D
You won’t believe it but as I was reading this my husband called from the kitchen: “are lamb and potatos ok for diner tonight?”
My answer: Opa!
Gotta love this crazy language of ours!
Ha ha! I would say Opa to lamb and potatoes too! Yum!
And you’re right, you do have to love this crazy language – otherwise it would drive you crazy! ;)
Not sure if someone already said this in the comments but “oba” and “eba” are commonly used to express delight (for yourself or on behalf of someone else). For example, “I’m about to eat this delicious chocolate, oba!”. I guess that’s what you meant by the meaning of “celebration”.
Oh, and “eta” is usually spelled “eita” because a lot of people pronounce it that way.
Ah interesting – I was under the impression that “eta” and “eita” were separate words. I’m starting to get the urge to say (in my best Louis Armstrong voice) “Let’s call the whole thing off!” ;)
I don’t think so but it could be different in carioques. :)
I always say you know you’re truly settled in Brazil when you instinctively know when to say Oba! and when to say Opa!
Nice blog, by the way….
Thanks Andrew! I think (think) I’ve got Opa and Oba down now. Just need to get Eba, Eta and Eita sorted out and I’ll be a local ;)