Dear Speech Repository community,
Portuguese is the official language of nine countries spanning four continents with over 260 million people speaking it every day. The countries are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe. Portuguese is even spoken in Macau, China, Portugal’s former colony, as one of the two official languages of the territory. However, Portuguese speakers in Macau only amount to 2.3% of its population.
The Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), an intergovernmental organisation, officially established a day to celebrate the Portuguese language in 2009. In 2019, the 40th session of UNESCO's General Conference decided to proclaim 5th May “World Portuguese Language Day”.
Since Portuguese is spoken in different countries, it means the language brings with it a varied and colourful range of idioms. Have you ever come across the following Brazilian expressions?
Tapar o sol com a peneira - To cover the sun with a sieve
- A poor attempt at covering up an obvious mistake
Enfiar o pé na jaca – To stick your foot in the jackfruit
- To commit excesses
Esticar o chiclete – To stretch gum
- To prolong a conversation
Vai trocar a ferradura – Go change your horseshoe
- You need an attitude check
Tirar leite de pedra – To milk a rock
- Make something out of nothing
Última bolacha do pacote – The last cracker in the bag
- Someone awesome, extremely attractive
We encourage you to check out the following Portuguese speeches in the Portuguese section of the Speech Repository:
Situação da língua portuguesa no mundo | Speech Repository (europa.eu)
Diversidade linguística | Speech Repository (europa.eu)
Acções da Comissão Europeia na área do Multilinguismo | Speech Repository (europa.eu)
O intérprete narrador e a lenda do Pássaro Uirapuru | Speech Repository (europa.eu)
Enjoy your practice!
Speech Repository Team