Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Portuguese term or phrase:
tau tau tau
English translation:
smack, smack
Added to glossary by
lexical
Nov 19, 2010 14:11
13 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Portuguese term
tau tau tau
Portuguese to English
Other
Slang
português de Portugal (Açores)
We're almost at the end of my questions about colloquial or street Portuguese.
Here we have a battered woman complaining about the slowness of the justice system in Portugal:
"Aqui é assim, primeiro você faz o crime, fica zanzando aí fora, **tau tau tau**, pra depois o tribunal vai resolver se vai prender."
I think I've actually heard this said and I thought at the time it was fairly meaningless. Can anybody complete my education?
Here we have a battered woman complaining about the slowness of the justice system in Portugal:
"Aqui é assim, primeiro você faz o crime, fica zanzando aí fora, **tau tau tau**, pra depois o tribunal vai resolver se vai prender."
I think I've actually heard this said and I thought at the time it was fairly meaningless. Can anybody complete my education?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | naughty, naughty |
Douglas Bissell
|
| 3 | tsk,tsk, tsk /blah,blah,blah |
Verginia Ophof
|
| 2 | etc., etc. |
Cristina Pereira
|
References
| tau |
T o b i a s
|
Proposed translations
+1
2 mins
Douglas Bissell
Portugal
Portugal
Native in English
Specializes in field
Portugal
Business Language Solutions Pt>Eng
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, English to Portuguese
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
naughty, naughty
This is how I have understood it, Tau meaning something like "smack"
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Douglas. Talking to the editor of this work, the consensus is that the woman means "he keeps on smacking his wife"."
14 mins
Cristina Pereira
Native in Portuguese
translator + journalist=flawless writing
Native in: Portuguese 
Works in: English to Portuguese, French to Portuguese, Portuguese, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
etc., etc.
Since this is Brazilian, could it be "tal, tal, tal"?
"tau-tau" is something we to say to young children when they misbehave, eg: "if you do that again, I'll give you tau-tau" (meaning, I'll smack you).
Hope this helps, but I'm not sure.
"tau-tau" is something we to say to young children when they misbehave, eg: "if you do that again, I'll give you tau-tau" (meaning, I'll smack you).
Hope this helps, but I'm not sure.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Gilmar Fernandes
: It's not Brazilian, the Asker says it in the Question header that this is from Açores
2 mins
|
|
Ok. But it looks Brazilian ("zanzando")... Anyway, I've never seen "tau tau tau" (3 times), but only "tau tau" (twice). That's why I think it must have a different meaning.
|
1 hr
Verginia Ophof
Belize
Belize
Native in English
Belize
Near Native Proficiency in Source langua
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, Dutch to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
tsk,tsk, tsk /blah,blah,blah
suggestion
Reference comments
1 day 34 mins
Reference:
tau
Dicionario Aurelio da Lingua Portuguesa
tau (2)
Interjeição.
1. Voz imitativa de tiro ou pancada.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day39 mins (2010-11-20 14:50:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
e.g.
" Pegaram nos paus afiados e, aproximando-se, pregaram-lhos na cabeça: tau! tau! tau!... A onça, gemendo, exclama: — Ai! Ai! Parai lá... Eles, porém, continuam: tau! tau! tau! e ... "
http://books.google.com/books?id=1poRAAAAIAAJ&q="Pegaram nos...
tau (2)
Interjeição.
1. Voz imitativa de tiro ou pancada.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day39 mins (2010-11-20 14:50:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
e.g.
" Pegaram nos paus afiados e, aproximando-se, pregaram-lhos na cabeça: tau! tau! tau!... A onça, gemendo, exclama: — Ai! Ai! Parai lá... Eles, porém, continuam: tau! tau! tau! e ... "
http://books.google.com/books?id=1poRAAAAIAAJ&q="Pegaram nos...
Note from asker:
| That seems pretty uncontrovertible, Tobias, although I wasn't able to follow up your URL reference for some reason.. As I suspected, it's onomatopoeic, and I now remember the context in which I've met this before - the sound of gunfire (cf. bang, bang) and, I now, discover, the sound of roasting chestnuts popping. In the context of my question, Douglas may not be far off the mark, methinks, or do you want to post an answer? |
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