TIPS & NOTES

(May/2012) CARA-DE-PAU

[bold, unashamed, shameless, brazen, cheeky]

• Que cara-de-pau! Sem convite, ele entrou na livraria durante o lançamento de um livro e pegou uma taça de vinho.
• What a cheek! Without an invitation he went into the bookstore during a book launch and got a glass of wine.

The term cara-de-pau (plural: caras-de-pau) is used to refer to people who are open and feel no shame or embarrassment, especially about something most people find shocking, and they don’t care about what other people think.

(Jun/2012) FOLGADO
[conveniently lazy, a shirker]

• O meu marido é muito folgado. Ele não trabalha há anos e eu banco tudo sozinha, até as prestações do carro dele.
• My husband is a real shirker. He hasn’t worked for years and I pay everything all on my own, even the installments on his car.

Folgado is a pejorative term used to describe a shirker, someone who avoids work, duties or responsibilities, especially if they are difficult or unpleasant.

• Ele é muito folgado. Já foi entrando de penetra na festa e logo tirou a mulher do anfitrião para dançar.
• He’s really got a lot of nerve. He simply gatecrashed the party and then immediately took the host’s wife for a dance.

Referência: “Break the Branch? Quebrar o Galho – Common, Everyday Words and Phrases in Brazilian Portuguese” de Jack Scholes, Disal Editora, 2008. Leia a resenha.