Portuguese Blog

I saw a TV segment once that featured a reporter combing Ipanema beach asking its denizens if they would have plastic surgery (if it were free), and if so, what would they have done? Many of the respondents were pretty funny, but one woman took the cake by replying “Eu teria duas. Um para o rosto, e um para o resto!” I would have two. One for my face, and one for the rest!”

Plastic surgery (cirurgia plástica) is common in wealthy, urban areas such as Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema and Leblon neighborhoods. In fact as of the year 2000 Brazil became the world’s capital for plastic surgery, now spending slightly more than the U.S. on a per capita basis.

Read More »

In Brazil, when people speak of the cultura de ficar, they are referring to the modern practice of casually displaying affection in public, and the general tendency of young people to warm up to each other rather quickly.

It is very common in Brazil for people who have just met to wildly make out if they are getting along quite well. This may seem strange to foreigners, especially with the connotations that many of us have with public displays of affections. to many this behavior implies that the couple engaging in the affection are headed off to bed in short order; this is certainly not the case in Brazil. Most of the time, the action of ficando means nothing more than hey, we seem to be getting along, let’s have some fun. Naturally, this comes across as a strange custom to many of us from less libertine societies.

Read More »

Fica a vontade means make yourself at home. This is another very common, useful phrase, and is the centerpiece of Brazilian hospitality.

Read More »