Tráfico is a false friend worth being familiar with, as it appears on the media on a regular basis. In Portuguese, tráfico relates exclusively to trafficking or dealing. When there is no specific mention to the nature of the trafficking, that is, when tráfico appears on its own, it invariably means drug trafficking. So the vítimas do tráfico are the victims of drug trafficking rather than the casualties of road accidents.

The translation of traffic into Portuguese, when it refers to the movement of vehicles, is trânsito (or the less frequente tráfego).

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The moment you set foot on Brazil people will greet you with the word oi! Do not panic, they are not trying to attract your attention because they are angry. Oi! means simply hi!

If you want to render the English oi! into Portuguese, go for something like ei!

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In Portuguese, a flat is a hotel apartment. They are very common in the big cities, and very popular among business travellers on long stays far from home. The British English term flat is translated as apartamento in Brazilian Portuguese.

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Don’t be troubled if someone asks you whether you want a vitamina. As well as a substance, a vitamina in Brazilian Portuguese is a drink, very similar to a smoothie, but usually prepared with just fruit juice and milk. If you have misgivings about the hygiene of the place where you will be ordering one, skip the milk bit and go for just a fruit juice (suco).

The sign at the door reads puxar. You go and push, don’t you? Wrong. In this context, the Portuguese verb puxar means to pull. Careful not to bang your head against the door!

In Brazil the ubiquitous motel is not a simple hotel along the roadside, American-style. The motel is a place with lovers go to explore the joys of love-making. They are only used by couples (wheter heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual!). Access is by car only, which guarantees anonimity.

Brazilians, sensual as they are, have turned the motel into a real art. Motels comes in all sizes – and prices. The most sophisticated rooms of the top-range motels have several beds (one of which customarily is a round one), a swimming pool with a waterfall, sauna, jacuzzi, sliding roof to see the stars, adultTV, giant TV screen, mirrors everywhere.

Motels are paid by the hour. They are more expensive at night and during the weekends.

If you want to have a bit of fun – or, who knows, prepare a future trip – here’s a guide to Brazilian motels.

Do you want some marmalade on your toast? Ask for géleia (de laranja), as marmelada in Portuguese means quince jelly/quince jam.

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In Brazilian Portuguese, limão designates the fruit we know as lime. Small, green and round.

Our lemon, slightly bigger, yellow and not that round, is relatively uncommon in Brazil, and where found it is referred to as limão siciliano.

[Technical note for those interested in the intricacies of translation: the translators of British and American cookery programs regularly render lemon as limão. I think that's fine, as using limão siciliano every time would be both wordy and slightly baffling for the Brazilian viewers. However, when an English-speaking cook uses both lemon and lime on the same recipe, the translator correctly uses the terms limão siciliano and limão.]

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Before you ask me what lexicography has got to do with a travel blog on Brazil, let me tell you I am a lexicographer. And I would like to share some of the knowledge I have acquired as a practising linguist.

In linguistics, false friends are words that are written in a similar or identical way in two of more languages, but that bear opposite or slightly different meanings in each language. I begin today a series on English-Portuguese false friends I hope to expand during the coming months, highlighting terms that could, in some likelihood, lead to confusion when used by English speakers not fluent in Portuguese. Hope some of you find this series useful!

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The language spoken in Brazil is the American variant of Portuguese. The differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese are much bigger than the differences between American Spanish and European Spanish. The differences are not restricted to the semantic field (vocabulary), encompassing different spelling rules, a different syntax and pronunciation. In general, for the untrained ear, Brazilian Portuguese is much easier to understand than European Portuguese.

As in any other territory the size of Brazil, there are huge regional differences in the language spoken in the country, and there are clearly identifiable accents. The best known accents come from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, the South, the Northeast region, and the Northern region.

Few Brazilians speak fluent English – it couldn’t be otherwise in a country where less than 15% of the population have access to university. Those who believe Spanish is widely spoken are in for a disappointment.

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