![\"pepper](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/learning-portuguese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2017\/12\/e837b2062cf6053ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d41ab3104095f5c2_640_pepper.jpg?w=678\" "\\"Photo")
As I mentioned in my article, “The Literal Translation Versus the Meaning,” it can take quite some time feeling your way around a new language. That is because, as I mentioned, the literal translation is not necessarily the meaning in the foreign language.<\/p>\n
For example, a young man would call his wife or girlfriend his “sweetheart.” The literal translation of “sweet” in Portuguese is “doce” and “heart” is “coracao.”<\/p>\n
But if you called a Brazilian woman a “doce coracoa,” she might look at you in amusement, wondering what you mean. The Portuguese equivalent of “sweetheart” is “amada,” which literally translates to “loved one.”<\/p>\n
There are many other examples. Well, you get the picture.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the main point of this article is not so much of a romantic nature. Here’s a little story. When I came to live in Brazil, I had a hard time finding “hot pepper.” Like some people, I enjoy chipping up really hot pepper and eating it with my food.<\/p>\n
I couldn’t find hot pepper anywhere in the area that I was living in, so I started asking around. The literal translation of “hot pepper” into Portuguese would be “pimenta quente.”<\/p>\n
pimenta = pepper<\/p>\n
quente = hot<\/p>\n
But, once again, the literal translation is not the meaning! There is no such expression as “pimenta quente,” in Brazil. No one would understand that!<\/p>\n
I did some “feeling around,” and discovered that there was “pimento cheiroso.” This literally translates to “strong smelling pepper.”<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, pimento cheiroso turned out to be “sweet pepper.”<\/p>\n
So what now? Everyone seemed confused until I met a smart young lad at the Vegetable Shop who was fluent in both English and Portuguese. He said to me, “do you speak English.”<\/p>\n
“Yes,” I replied. “Do you?”<\/p>\n
He began to explain to me that sweet pepper is “pimento cheiroso,” and that there is no such expression as “pimento doce,” in Brazil.<\/p>\n
He also explained to me that was I was looking for was pimenta ardida = hot pepper!<\/p>\n
Cheers to this smart young lad, and here’s to some hot pepper!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"