Here you’ll find all installments of “EP Word of the Week”, a segment highlighting with European Portuguese words and idioms (usually as a European vs. Brazilian Portuguese contrast).
Note: Starting with #117 (“ano le[c]tivo”), and due to popular demand, these posts were written in European Portuguese instead of the original English. If you have any questions about the writing and vocabulary in these, people let me know in the comments of each individual post.
- autocarro (bus)
- elé[c]trico (tram/streetcar)
- chapéu-de-chuva (umbrella)
- galão (Portuguese milk-and-coffee beverage)
- Polónia / polaco (Poland / Polish)
- canadiano / canadiana (Canadian)
- americano (American)
- Caraíbas (Caribbean)
- Madrid (e outras cidades europeias) [Madrid (and other European cities)]
- constipação (common cold)
- autoestrada (freeway/motorway/expressway)
- SAPO (toad; also a Portuguese search engine/news website)
- frigorífico (fridge)
- catorze / dezasseis / dezassete / dezanove (14/16/17/19)
- mil milhões / bilião (numbers over 1 million)
- camião / camionista (truck/lorry | truck/lorry driver)
- travão / embraiagem (brake / clutch)
- ténis (tennis – the sport, and the shoes)
- atacador (shoelace)
- realizador/a de cinema (film director)
- almofada / travesseiro (pillow / travesseiro, a Portuguese pastry)
- montado (Portuguese landscape/biome)
- glaciar / geleira (glacier / icebox)
- taparuere (plastic container, tupperware)
- dobragem (dubbing/dub)
- golo / baliza (goal, in soccer)
- pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart)
- cravo (carnation, a flower)
- bebé (baby)
- mamã / papá (mom/dad)
- brócolos (broccoli)
- dióspiro (kaki)
- sésamo (sesame)
- ananás / abacaxi (pineapple)
- pimento / pimentão / paprica / colorau (bell pepper / paprika)
- crípton (e outros elementos químicos) (krypton [and other chemical elements])
- esferovite (styrofoam)
- comboio (train)
- agrafador (stapler)
- afia-lápis (pencil sharpener)
- canalizador/a (plumber)
- BE (e outras siglas políticas) (BE [and other political party abbreviations])
- fato (suit)
- paragem (bus/tram stop)
- gelado (ice cream)
- calções de banho / cueca de banho (swim shorts / swim briefs)
- humidade (humidity / moisture)
- barbatana (swimfin / flipper)
- Andrómeda (e outras constelações) (Andromeda [and other constellations])
- Vénus / Úrano / Neptuno (Venus / Uranus / Neptune)
- alforreca (jellyfish)
- nadador[a]-salvador[a] (lifeguard)
- tasca
- folhado de salsicha (pigs in blankets)
- imperial / fino (draft beer served in tall glasses)
- ice tea (ice tea)
- desporto (sports)
- sumo (juice)
- metro (subway/metro, also “meter”)
- relva (grass)
- parque de campismo (camping park)
- francesinha (Portuguese dish)
- canícula (Dog days)
- pôr do sol (sunset)
- camisola / t-shirt
- descolar (to lift off)
- pequeno-almoço (breakfast)
- amámos [and other 1st person plural preterite forms]
- lembrar-se (de) (to remember)
- banda desenhada / Mónica (comic books / Monica)
- manga (Japanese manga / sleeve / mango)
- presidente de câmara (mayor)
- ovo estrelado (fried egg)
- SIDA/sida (AIDS)
- amnistia (amnesty)
- rabanada[s] / fatia[s] dourada[s] (golden slices)
- bolo rei (Portuguese king cake)
- Passagem de Ano (New Year’s Eve)
- Janeiras (January/Epiphany songs)
- aplicação (app)
- vólei (volleyball)
- “Parabéns a você!” (Happy Birthday to you)
- matraquilhos (foosball/table football)
- israelita (Israeli)
- cancro (cancer)
- Arménia / arménio/a (Armenia / Armenian)
- Gronelândia / gronelandês (Greenland / Greenlandic)
- ama (nanny / babysetter)
- telemóvel (mobile phone / cellphone)
- razia / vândalo (destruction, wipeout / vandal)
- registo / rasto (register, registry / trace)
- carta de condução (driver’s license)
- bilhete de identidade / cartão de cidadão (Portuguese ID card)
- adesivo / penso rápido (adhesive / band-aid)
- ginásio (gym)
- Estou? [and other ways of picking up the phone]
- baloiço / balancé (swing / see-saw)
- ferro de engomar (clothes’ iron)
- lixívia (bleech)
- pirilampo (firefly / Portuguese children’s toy)
- lavandaria (dry cleaning)
- terra batida (clay, in tennis)
- vosso (your/yours, plural)
- A Portuguesa (Portugal’s national anthem)
- conjuntivo (the Subjunctive mood)
- quina (the escutcheons in the Portuguese flag/coat of arms)
- tiroide (thyroid)
- esófago (esophagus)
- medula espinal / espinal medula (spinal cord)
- de cor (by heart)
- lotaria / Euromilhões (lottery / Euromillions, a European lottery service popular in Portugal)
- papagaio de papel (kite)
- folha de cálculo (spreadsheet, as in Excel)
- pano da loiça (washcloth, dish rag)
- pera (goatee – facial hair; pear, the fruit)
- bronzeado / escaldão (tan / sunburn)
- ano le[c]tivo (school year)
- czar / czarina (tsar / tsarina, rulers and consorts of Imperial Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia)
- imperadora / imperatriz | embaixadora / embaixatriz (empress / ambassador)
- dinossauro (dinossaur)
- À grande e à francesa (idiom, meaning “living the good life”, lit. “going it big and like the French”)
- Ufa! (expression of relief, “Phew!”)
- postar (to post, online)
- pais / avós / tios (parents/grandparents/uncles)
- subtil (subtle)
- rotunda (roundabout)
- vender gato por lebre (idiom)
- salto em comprimento / triplo salto (long jump / triple jump, in athletics)
- andar às aranhas (idiom)
- casa de banho (bathroom / restroom)
- tanto faz (whatever!)
- trotinete (children’s scooter)
- prego / bitoque (nail / beef sandwich)
- lixívia (bleach)
- ficar a ver navios (idiom)
- sanita (toilet)
- coisas do arco-da-velha (expression, “odd things”)
- x-a[c]to (x-acto knife)
- para inglês ver (idiom)
- ver-se grego para (idiom)
- falar chinês (idiom)
- pionés / percevejo (thumbtack / bedbug)
- marcha-atrás (rear-wheel drive)
- vir à baila (idiom, “to come up (in conversation)”)
- cascos de rolha (expression, “someplace far away and hard to reach”)
- pechisbeque (trinket)
- Onde está[s]? (expression, “Where are you?”)
- fatura (receipt)
- amigo da onça (expression, meaning fake friend)
- liberdade (freedom)
- dar uma mãozinha (idiom, “to lend a hand, i.e. to help”)
- batido (milkshake)
- [ter/estar com] a cabeça nas nuvens (idiom, “to have your head in the clouds, i.e. being distracted”)
- passadeira [de peões] (crosswalk / Zebra crossing)
- ter a faca e o queijo na mão (idiom)
- montra (shop window / display)
- não perceber patavina (idiom, meaning “not understanding anything (about something)”)
- estio / estival (summer / summery)
- bater na mesma tecla (idiom, literally “to hit on the same key (i.e. on piano or computer)”, meaning “to insist on something”)
- sandálias / havaianas (flip-flops, a type of sandal)
- ir dar banho ao cão (idiom, meaning “to buzz off, i.e. telling someone to go away in a rude way”)
- chávena (teacup)
- ir a banhos (idiom, “going to the beach”)
- aceder (to assess – a service, website, etc.)
- puxar a brasa à [minha] sardinha (idiom, “to self-promote”)
- morada (address)
- [ter/estar com] a barriga a dar horas (idiom, meaning “to be hungry”)
- talho (butcher shop)
- [ficar/estar] em águas de bacalhau (idiom, meaning “to stall, to be in a standstill, to be unfinished”)
- chumbar (to flunk [a class])
- pôr os pontos nos is (idiom, meaning “to set things right”, literally “putting the dots in the i letters”)
- mola (clothes pin)
- estar feito ao bife (idiom, “to be screwed, in a hard place”)
- palhinha / canudo (drinking straw / university degree)
- estar de trombas (idiom, “to be upset”)
- chupa-chupa (lollipop)
- de pedra e cal (idiom, “firmly, set in stone”)
- fiambre (ham)
- topo de gama (idiom, top-notch, high-end, top-quality)
- estendal (clothes rack / line)
- resvés Campo de Ourique (idiom, “nearly, through the skin on one’s teeth, barely”)
- bica / cimbalino (espresso)
- de borla (idiom, “for free”)
- Pai Natal (Santa Claus / Father Christmas)
- não há de ser nada (idiom)
- bólingue (bowling)
- escolha múltipla (multiple choice)
- quinta (farm)
- népia (expression, meaning “nope”)
- [o] (modo) condicional (subjunctive mood)
- nem que a vaca tussa (idiom, meaning “not in a million years”, literally “not even if the cow coughs”)
- cocó (poo)
- fazer de vela (idiom, meaning “being the third wheel”)
- descapotável (convertible car)
- acordar com os pés de fora (idiom, meaning “waking up with a mood”)
- peão (pawn / pedestrian)
- soltar a franga (idiom, meaning “to get wild”)
- boleia (hitchhiking)
- com uma perna às costas (idiom, meaning “easily”, literally “with a leg behind your back”)
- fixe (expression, “cool, sweet, swell”)
- estar com os azeites (idiom, “to be mad / annoyed”)
- propinas (university / college tuition)
- partir a loiça toda (idiom)
- alcatrão (tar)
- pentear macacos (idiom)
The European Portuguese Experience 