Portuguese != Spanish
while searching some YouTube videos, I remembered that many people ahve asked me in Japan how close are Portuguese and Spanish (or Italian, or French). One comment really amused me that was if one could undrestand all those languages knowing only one of them...
LOL
His point was that "if that was possible, it would be nice to know one of those languages, since it would grant comprehension of many languages at once".
LOL again.
Well, I'd dare say that it is possible to understand a little of Spanish, Italian and French from Portuguese. But I wouldn't trust those similarities for anything more than an informal chat or some "smart guessing" when there's no other way. Spanish and Portuguese really "look alike", even for some who know one of those languages. But some caution is needed.
One reason is because of false cognates. One example is the English word actually. It looks like the Portuguese word atualmente, which means nowadays. Some years ago, a Spanish language school released very clever ads using false cognates between Portuguese and Spanish to create embarrassing situations due to the "misunderstanding".
I found one of those ads after some YouTube searching.
And for those not familiar with either Portuguese or Spanish, the words that cause the misunderstanding are:
* la (a)buela
The player says that his nickname "Matador" comes after his ability to control and kick the ball. For "to control", he uses the verb "to kill", which is said reasonably often in soccer. But the word for "ball" in Portuguese is "bola" (I believe it's "pelota" in Spanish), and the player says "the ball" as "la buela"...(because many words have that sort of change from Portuguese to Spanish) and "la abuela" means "the grandmother" in Spanish.
So, "control the ball" turns into "kill the grandmother"...
* zurdo y fresco
The reporter says that the player will enter because the team needs a lefty and "rested" player. So, he uses the words "zurdo" ("canhoto" in Portuguese) and "fresco" ("descansado"). But the word "zurdo" sounds like the Portuguese word "surdo", which means "deaf", and "fresco", although it also exists in Portuguese, isn't likely to be used in that kind of situation. It looks like the reporter called the player... uhhmmm... I can't give the exact meaning but it is something like someone who's always complaining, or that doesn't like to do physical effort, or who likes things only as he/she says, or some kind of gay person (that word is used with that meaning only as slang).
Actually I'm not so sure if the second word is really "fresco", and even my "translation" of how that word was interpreted by the player is not exactly correct... If someone could confirm or correct the information, I'd appreciate it.
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Added on December 21st
I found a word that matches well with Portuguese "fresco". Think that "picky" is a good one.
LOL
His point was that "if that was possible, it would be nice to know one of those languages, since it would grant comprehension of many languages at once".
LOL again.
Well, I'd dare say that it is possible to understand a little of Spanish, Italian and French from Portuguese. But I wouldn't trust those similarities for anything more than an informal chat or some "smart guessing" when there's no other way. Spanish and Portuguese really "look alike", even for some who know one of those languages. But some caution is needed.
One reason is because of false cognates. One example is the English word actually. It looks like the Portuguese word atualmente, which means nowadays. Some years ago, a Spanish language school released very clever ads using false cognates between Portuguese and Spanish to create embarrassing situations due to the "misunderstanding".
I found one of those ads after some YouTube searching.
And for those not familiar with either Portuguese or Spanish, the words that cause the misunderstanding are:
* la (a)buela
The player says that his nickname "Matador" comes after his ability to control and kick the ball. For "to control", he uses the verb "to kill", which is said reasonably often in soccer. But the word for "ball" in Portuguese is "bola" (I believe it's "pelota" in Spanish), and the player says "the ball" as "la buela"...(because many words have that sort of change from Portuguese to Spanish) and "la abuela" means "the grandmother" in Spanish.
So, "control the ball" turns into "kill the grandmother"...
* zurdo y fresco
The reporter says that the player will enter because the team needs a lefty and "rested" player. So, he uses the words "zurdo" ("canhoto" in Portuguese) and "fresco" ("descansado"). But the word "zurdo" sounds like the Portuguese word "surdo", which means "deaf", and "fresco", although it also exists in Portuguese, isn't likely to be used in that kind of situation. It looks like the reporter called the player... uhhmmm... I can't give the exact meaning but it is something like someone who's always complaining, or that doesn't like to do physical effort, or who likes things only as he/she says, or some kind of gay person (that word is used with that meaning only as slang).
Actually I'm not so sure if the second word is really "fresco", and even my "translation" of how that word was interpreted by the player is not exactly correct... If someone could confirm or correct the information, I'd appreciate it.
-----
Added on December 21st
I found a word that matches well with Portuguese "fresco". Think that "picky" is a good one.
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