8 Portuguese Terms We Wish Existed

in English
Sometimes we’re at a loss for words, not because we’re speechless, but because no
English term lends itself to the situation (or snack) at hand. At those times, we turn to
other languages, celebrating them for the concepts we wish we could express so easily
in English. Here are some of our favorite words from the Portuguese language.

saudade
This untranslatable Portuguese term refers to a melancholic longing or yearning. A
recurring theme in Portuguese and Brazilian literature, saudade evokes a sense of
loneliness and incompleteness. Portuguese scholar Aubrey Bell attempts to distill this
complex concept in his 1912 book In Portugal, describing saudade as “a vague and
constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something
other than the present.”
Bell continues to say that saudade is “not an active discontent or poignant sadness but
an indolent dreaming wistfulness.” Saudade can more casually be used to say that you
miss someone or something, even if you’ll see that person or thing in the near future. It
differs from nostalgia in that one can feel saudade for something that might never have
happened, whereas nostalgia is “a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former
place or time.”
futevôlei
Brazilians have inventively portmanteau’d the sports of volleyball and soccer together to
create futevôlei, “footvolley,” or beach volleyball played without hands. This sport rose to
popularity in the 1960s on the beaches of Copacabana. One famous move called the
“Shark Attack” involves players spiking the volleyball over the net with one foot.
cafuné
Perhaps the origin of the romantic image some of us have of Brazil is found within the
Portuguese language. “The act of caressing or tenderly running fingers through a loved
one’s hair” is a mouthful mercifully avoided in Brazil with the term cafuné. This
affectionate action can be applied to lovers and pets alike, as can the term chamego,
which wraps up the senses of intimacy, infatuation, and cuddling, all in one term.
farofa
A traditional Brazilian feast will come with a side of farofa. This dish consists of manioc
flour toasted in butter, and usually mixed with finely chopped ingredients like bacon,
eggs, or bananas. Brazilians generally serve farofa alongside other foods at a traditional
barbecue, called a churrasco.
xodó
Your xodó is your sweetheart, in a way that applies both to your significant other and
also someone you have a special closeness with, such as a grandparent. A pet could be
a xodó too (especially if it’s enjoying cafuné). You can also “have” xodó for someone
when you have soft spot for them. This all-purpose term of endearment originated in
northern Brazil and might be translated in some instances as the slang term boo.
Another good match for this word (albeit in Spanish) is cariño.
tapioca
Though English speakers might think of tapioca as the dense balls found in pudding and
bubble tea, the term can refer to something entirely different in Brazil. Often purchased
from street carts, this snack is made of tapioca flour toasted until it forms a flat, round
shape, filled with sweet or savory ingredients, and then folded in half. A popular treat
among Brazilians is tapioca filled with shredded meat and cheese, or with coconut,
condensed milk, and cinnamon.
desenrascanço
The term desenrascanço, used in Portugal, roughly means “the act of disentangling
yourself from a difficult situation using available means.” Some English speakers find a
near translation of desenrascanço in the colloquial verb MacGyver, as in the Gizmodo
headline “How NASA MacGyvered the Crippled Apollo 13 Mission Safely
Home.” The eponymous verb MacGyver comes from the action/adventure show of the
same name, first aired in 1985, in which the title character evades sticky situations by
reconfiguring the limited resources at his disposal. For example, in one
episode, MacGyver fashions a trap using plywood, rope, water jugs, and a smoke
detector to help him escape from a heavily guarded warehouse. That’s quite a
“disentangling.”
poisé
A debate with a Brazilian over how to translate the expression pois é can lead to a lively
conversation. Does it mean “yeah”? Close, but not quite. Is it “well”? Maybe. Part of the
problem is it takes a different meaning depending on the context. It can be used to show
agreement (as in when English-speakers reply “exactly”) or resignation to a fact (perhaps
negative) that can’t be changed (“that’s life”). It can also mean a form of “I told you so.”
With so many meanings, this word just can’t be pinned down.