A Dictionary of Informal Brazilian Portuguese: With English Index

by Bobby J. Chamberlain

Book Overview

This is a paperback release of a 1983 hardcover dictionary.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878400915
• ISBN13: 9780878400911
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Length: 701 Pages
• Weight: 2.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great informal dictionary!

This is a great book to use as a reference for Brazilian slang, jargon, idioms, etc. Words are listed with English definitions and have example sentences written in Brazilian Portuguese (there are no English translation for the example sentences). My girlfriend is Brazilian, and she liked this book so much she bought a copy for herself!

A Dictionary of Informal Brazilian Portuguese

This book has lots of fun slang and is fun to read because of the sample phrases thrown in. Unfortunately, it was published in 1983, so a lot of the modern slang isn't in there. I can usually find about half of the slang I hear. So far, I think it's the only widely available dictionary of it's kind.

Excellent but begging for an update!

This wonderful and necessary dictionary is a work of linguistic greatness that has hundreds and hundreds of commonly used terms, some of which I would daresay have slipped from the slang category to just the informal or colloquial usage categories since the book was published in 1983. Being the experts they are, I'm sure that even the authors would agree that the dictionary needs updating. The first rule of slang and informal usages is that they constantly come into existence, with dozens of new common expressions each year. If the authors are out there somewhere, I am sure that they would love to add hundreds of terms and phrases that have found their way into popular culture since they put out this excellent opus, whose contents are still highly valid. Just to provide one example, the very first word I looked up was "rolar", a verb you see constantly nowadays in a variety of differently nuanced means. It's not to be found in the dictionary, but afterwards most of the terms I sought out were there. I have been adding to the dictionary myself, by penciling in the new slang I come across, in case anyone ever asks to borrow my dictionary, or if I run across new words in the future. This and the dictionary's large size are its only disadvantages: there are huge spaces between each definition (which are printed in a humongous courier font), and as with all dictionaries, I prefer smaller size (these dictionaries take up tons of room in your home if you're a translator!) Recommended!