What Brazilians say: Let's stay in touch, ok?

(A
Brazilians
Portuguese for the perplexed
May 24th 2013, 13:49 by H.J. | SÃO PAULO
Inspired by a popular guide to Understanding the
British, I've put together a few entries in a
Foreigners' Guide to Understanding Brazilians.
Portuguese speakers and Brazilianists are invited
to add more in the comments. Hat tip to Brazil-
based journalists Andrew Downie and Dom
Phillips, who contributed items, and Olivier
Teboul, a Frenchman living in Belo Horizonte
whose list of "Brazilian curiosities" (in Portuguese)
has generated a huge response from amused,
and sometimes bemused, locals.
What Brazilians say: Yes (Sim)
What foreigners hear: Yes
What Brazilians mean: Anything from yes
through perhaps to no
What Brazilians say: Perhaps (Talvez)
What foreigners hear: Perhaps
What Brazilians mean: No
gente se vê, vamos combinar, tá?)
What foreigners hear: He'd like to stay in touch
(though, puzzlingly, we don't seem to have
swapped contact details)
What Brazilians mean: No more than a Briton
means by: "Nice weather, isn't it?"
What Brazilians say: I'm going to tell you
something/ Let me tell you something/ It's the
following/ Just look and you'll see (Vou te falar
uma coisa/ Deixa te falar uma coisa/ É o
seguinte/ Olha só pra você ver)
What foreigners hear (especially after many
repetitions): He thinks I'm totally inattentive or
perhaps mentally deficient
What Brazilians mean: Ahem (it's just a verbal
throat-clear)
What Brazilians say: A hug! A kiss! (Um
abraço! Um beijo!)
What foreigners hear: I've clearly made quite an
impression—we've just met but he/she really likes
me!
What Brazilians mean: Take care, cheers, bye

What Brazilians say: No (Não)

What foreigners hear (on the very rare
occasion a Brazilian says it): No
What Brazilians mean: Absolutely never, not in a
million years, this is the craziest thing I've ever
been asked
What Brazilians say: I'm nearly there (Tô
chegando)
What foreigners hear: He's nearly here
What Brazilians mean: I've set out
What Brazilians say: I'll be there in ten minutes
(Vou chegar em dez minutinhos)
What foreigners hear: He'll be here soon
What Brazilians mean: Some time in the next
half-hour I'll get up off the sofa and start looking
for my car keys
What Brazilians say: You speak Portuguese
really, really well! (Você fala português super-
bem!)
What foreigners hear: How great! My grammar
and accent must be coming on a lot better than I
thought
What Brazilians mean: How great! A foreigner is
trying to learn Portuguese! Admittedly, the
grammar and accent are so awful I can barely
understand a word... but anyway! A foreigner is
trying to learn Portuguese!
Extracted from:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2013/05/braz
ilians

What Brazilians say: I'll show up later (Vou

aparecer mais tarde)
What foreigners hear: He'll be here later
What Brazilians mean: I won't be coming