Pode crer is a great and useful piece of gíria than means that’s believable. Literally it translates as one can believe, but in practice it has a looser, more informal sense of affirmation perhaps akin to the English street slang Word! or Right on!.
In fact, pode crer is a popular street slang phrase in addition to being an acceptable saying in more sophisticated circles. It is a fantastic way of indicating you are following someone’s thoughts and agreeing with their reasoning while in conversation. Indeed it’s so appropriate for this function that you could almost convince someone that you both a) spoke Portuguese and b) thought their ideas were sound and reasonable just by nodding and saying pode crer…. pode crer… ô sim… pode crer. Give it a try.
For some great reading in Portuguese, try PodeCrer the blog. It’s a neat blog about technology, music, games and other points of general interest. Go there to practice your Portuguese while picking up some tech tips.
6 Comments
Oi, Chris
Eu também faço posts (muito raramente) no PodeCrer e fiquei fascinado pelo seu interesse na língua portuguesa. É muito inusitado, para nós brasileiros, saber que um americano tem um Portuguese Blog. Uau!
Curiosamente, seu português é muito melhor do que o de alguns de nós brasileiros, háhá.
Leonardo
p.s.: Recentemente, soube que o David Lee Roth também fala português.
Olá!!
Muito bacana a forma como coloca os exemplos e seu conhencimento na lingua portuguesa que particulamente acho ela muito complexa. Um abraço!
Great blog!
I’d like to add that “pode crer” would also fit situations where you’d mean “That’s right!” and “You said it!”. But definitely the best general meaning for it would be “Right on!”
Congrats on a job well done!
Howdy.
“Tell me about it” and “You bet” are English expressions that mean the same as “pode crer”. Muito legal comparar gírias. We learn English and ‘regional’ Portuguese as well. Recently a carioca girl told me people don´t use the verb “chavear” (lock – door)in Rio.
Great blog. Way to go!
Marcelo
Porto Alegre
Just to add: YOU BET and TELL ME ABOUT IT are corresponding English expressions that mean the same as PODE CRER.
Great Blog. Way to go!
Marcelo
Porto Alegre
Don’t forget that many (most?) people still say the old form “podes crer”, pronounced as “podiscrê”.
Also in slang, you may often hear people say “demorou!” That means it’s so obvious it’s happened already or should have happened long ago.