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Opa! Oba! Eba! Eta!

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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

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:

 

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Not my beach

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At times I can be quite self-conscious about my Portuguese – I know I should just lighten up and get on with learning and improving, but if I’m not in a great mood then it’s very easy to notice all the mistakes and forget about all the things I’m getting right.

However, every so often I’m reminded that many of the people I meet day-to-day are also struggling away with their own language challenges. While I’m working on my Portuguese, many of them are working on their *English! At times this can lead to a language stand-off: “Let’s speak English shall we?” “Não! Vamos falar português!”

*I’m aware other languages exist and are learned by Brazilians, but English is the most common.

I find it rather comforting to be reminded that I’m not the only one with language issues. When we are lamenting our respective difficulties, one of the things that Brazilians often mention is the trouble they have with English words which are differentiated only by a long or short “e”. They will often tell me that they struggle with the difference between “beach” and “bitch”! The other example they mention is “sheet/shit”.

This then leads to drawn out demonstrations which involve me repeating “Sheeeeeeeeeet? Shit! Sheeeeeeeet? Shit! See? And now beeeeeeeeeeeeach? Bitch!”. Passing American tourists usually look at me like I’m crazy…

 

Ipanema Beach

Beeeeeeeeach! This is Ipanema at sunset, looking back towards Arpoador. The Arpoador rocky peninsula is a popular place to sit and watch the sunset.

 

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Cachaça

Carnival Songs: Cachaça não é água

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OK, so that’s Christmas and New Year out of the way – let’s turn our thoughts to Carnival shall we? This year it starts in early February but some years it doesn’t start until March – I’ve heard several Cariocas say that it doesn’t feel like the year has really started until after carnival. Personally I’m rather pleased to have a break from the festivities – 8-12 weeks is the perfect amount of time to recharge the batteries and forget all those ridiculous resolutions you made while you were wallowing in post-Christmas guilt.

When I think of carnival in Rio, I picture thousands of happy revelers at a bloco, dressed in crazy costumes, singing along to one of the many Marchinhas de Carnaval (traditional carnival songs). During my first carnival I found this a little frustrating – everyone knew the words but me! By my second carnival I had started to pick up the tunes and even bluff my way through some of the choruses. This year I plan to be singing along like a professional!

 

Cachaça

This is Cachaça, not to be confused with water…

 

So I thought I’d help out fellow carnival newbies with some suggested reading/singing. In the run-up to the big week, I’ll post a selection of my favourites carnival tunes. Learn these songs and you’ll feel like you’ve been carnivaling for years!

Today we’ll start with a cautionary tale which highlights the differences between water and Brazil’s favourite spirit – the song is called “Cachaça”.

 

Água de carnaval

This is water (cachaça is cheap, but not that cheap!).

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Language confusion: Feira, Ferias, Feriado, Folga!

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During my time learning second languages I have found certain word combinations seemed stubbornly unwilling to make a home in my memory banks. Back when I was learning Spanish, I used to have terrible trouble with ciudad (city) and cuidado (care/careful). You can see the issue can’t you? They look pretty similar and when you have all those other words trying to get in, it can be very easy to get these two mixed up.

As you may have worked out from the blog title (you clever people!), the words I have trouble with in Portuguese are Feira and Ferias. These are both excellent words so I’m hoping by telling you a little about them I can fix this once and for all!

 

Feira

A Feira (sounds like FAY-ra) is a street market. I love these places! Loads of hustle and bustle, noises and smells, great looking vegetables, all kinds of crazy fruit and most times I visit I see something that makes me go “What’s that?!”. 

Feira da Glória, Rio.

This is Feira da Glória, not far from my house. If you are visiting Rio you should definitely try to spend a morning wandering around one of these markets. It will be a feast for the senses!

 

What you see above is a Feira. Repeat after me – FEIRA! Now let’s move on:

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How to greet people like a Brazilian

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Learning Brazilian Portuguese (or any other language for that matter) isn’t just about words and phrases, conjugations and tenses, pronouns and prepositions. All those things are important of course, but there is something else missing from that list. Body language! Or “non-verbal communication” if you prefer. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s not something you can easily learn from a book.

ASIDE: While in Rio or São Paulo, book onto one of OUR WALKING FOOD TOURS to learn first-hand how to meet and greet the locals. As well as eating and drinking your way around the city, you’ll be rubbing shoulder with the locals, learning about the culture, how to read a menu, how to get around the city safely and lots more! All this during what many have described as “the best food tour they’ve ever done“!

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When Brazilians meet each other they have a whole range of greetings to choose from.

 

Tudo Bom?

 

The Many ways to say Hello

  • Oi is a very versatile word. As well as being the equivalent of “Hi”, it can also mean “Excuse me” (to catch someone’s attention) and “What?” (as in, I didn’t hear you). Has none of the rude connotations of the English “Oi!”.
  • Olá is the equivalent of “Hello” – brief and to the point.
  • Bom dia, Boa tarde, Boa noite – Good morning, afternoon and night. Here in Rio you can say this to pretty much anyone you pass on the street. Well, not if it’s a very busy street downtown during lunchtime. But if you are the only person walking down the road and then you pass an old lady, it’s nice to say wish her a good day.
  • Como vai? My mother in law likes this one – it means “How is it going?” and can be used in combination with most of the others in this list.
  • Tudo bem? – Sounds more like toodoo bayne, this means “All well?”. THis is probably the most common way of saying hello to someone you don’t know well, like at a party.
  • Tudo bom? – This mean “All good?” and is pretty much interchangeable with tudo bem. When someone says “Tudo bem” to me, I like to counter with “Tudo bom” (and vice versa). My father in law once told me that Tudo bom is a little bit more familiar, less formal than Tudo bem
  • Tudo certo? – This one means “All correct?” and it really confused me the first time someone said it to me. My response was to adopt the expression of a startled (and rather unintelligent) rabbit.
  • Tranquilo? / Beleza? – These mean Calm and Beauty respectively and can be used with a questioning intonation as a greeting.
  • E aí – This one literally means “And there” and is usually followed by one of the “Tudo” greetings above. This is mostly for cool people when they meet other people they judge to be cool. Strangely, people don’t seem to use this one with me very often…
So there are just a few of the many ways you can say hello to someone – I’m sure I’ve missed loads. But what about all that “non-verbal” greeting I mentioned before? Well take a look at this video I took last weekend (just after I’d gorged on Rabada com Agrião!). At the time, I thought I was filming the Roberto Carlos cover band – it wasn’t until later that I watched the footage again and realised what was far more interesting was the heart-warming little scene going on in the foreground! Keep your eyes on the guy in the centre of the image in the white shirt…