NEWSLETTER

ART DIRECTION AND EXPLANATIONS BY MARIANA METRI, AS TOLD TO SARAH STEINBERG
PHOTOS BY FERNANDA NEGRINI

Recently, Brazil was heralded by the internet as having the world’s most enviable form of codified body-language-speak. We wanted in on the secret, so we called our pal Mariana in São Paulo and had her round up
a bunch of her cute friends to pantomime some of the most useful undercover Brazilian hand gestures—and in the process explain the finer points of interpersonal Brazilian communication. Pay close attention:
You may need some of this stuff one day.

Você é idiota? (“Are you an idiot?”) Putting your fist to your forehead and making an overbite face signifies that you think the person on the receiving end is an idiot. You should make some sort of arrr sound when you do it. If you’re concerned about looking like an idiot yourself, don’t be: The issuer is exempt because it’s hilarious.		Fudeu! (“Screw you” or “Screw me”) Yes, this awesomely goes both ways! It comes in handy when you have no idea who screwed who, but you’re pretty sure that there was some screwing going on and that you were involved.		Vai um cafezinho? (“Want to go for a coffee?”) This tricky little hand pose can mean one of three things: Let’s have a coffee, let’s smoke weed, or let’s fly a kite. All good things. The gesture can also say something abstract, like, “Hey, why don’t we put off for tomorrow what we could easily do today?” It’s practically a Brazilian pastime.

Saco cheio (“Full sack”) If your balls are full, you’re going to want to tell people. Why are they full? Because you’re annoyed. What better way to tell people that your balls are full than to gesture “Hey, look, man, my balls are seriously full. So either stop annoying me or put that trumpet down and give me a hand”?		Banana (“Banana”) You know this one, I bet! According to our sources, the most commonplace American misconception of Brazilians is that they swing from trees, pick fleas out of one another’s hair, and group-masturbate. Only the last one is a documented truth. This gesture means “banana,” and Brazilians use it to say “Fuck off.”		Dor de cotovelo (“Pain of the elbow”) Señoritas and gay men, this refers to emotional elbow pain. As in, you’ve been crying at the bar with your big sad head in your hands for so long and it’s so heavy that now your elbows hurt.

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Comments

Anonymous, on Jun 8, 2009 wrote: I wonder if Americans are too remedial to incorporate sign language into everyday language...at least, to the same extent that Brazilians have. I’d say yes.
Anonymous, on Jun 7, 2009 wrote: funny how people get stressed with this...relax people and have fun!
Anonymous, on Jun 5, 2009 wrote: <Paulo> I live here in BraSil, and I’ve seen most of these gestures, so i confirm most are true. at leat where I live, (Recife). Also, this dude is an ass, Brazil has all colors: Anonymous, on May 16, 2009 wrote: Since when has brazil been this superwhite? Even in iceland people have darker skin tones than these...
Anonymous, on May 30, 2009 wrote: ahahaha adorei
Anonymous, on May 30, 2009 wrote: que coisa esxxcrotaaaaa
Anonymous, on May 22, 2009 wrote: vice brazil sucks.
	audienceofone, on May 22, 2009 wrote: The "are you an idiot" one can be explained via the common belief that any given idiot is unable to eat an icecream correctly, thus the closed fist like if holding an icecream cone to the forehead. Have said.
Anonymous, on May 22, 2009 wrote: booo. this is lame like a sidebar on ’graffiti slanguage.’ vice is the thing it used to make fun of. --geniusboy
Anonymous, on May 20, 2009 wrote: The banana girl looks like a gnarly Konnie Huq.
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: Being the only white guy in a Brazilian neighborhood is like being a playground for abuse. Hand signs are a light day.
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: the girl doing the banana sign makes my pants happy
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: if you could see me right now, i’m giving you the universal sign of this shit it lame and innacurate
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: vote suriname, peoples!
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: Next year: SURINAME!
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: Im brazilian and I use most of them, im from rio, maybe people from others cities dont know cause they are ignorant or just from the country side where nothing happens . The coffee sign can be also used as reference to smoking a joint :)
Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote: Surely these gestures are of ITALIAN origin (30% plus in Brazil)? ? ?
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: Who gives a fuck how these people talk. I want to see more hot brazilian ass. You also forgot all the brazilian tranies from tranie porn.
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: brazil has a sign for having a full sack??
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: my favorite hand gesture would have to be the "are you an idiot?" and "full sack"
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: didn’t vbs go to brazil and do a little bit of this before? i remember watching something like this 2 years ago when vbs first started.
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: I love the “Go fuck your ass up” gesture. really its not even the gesture that I like, its just the phrase of “Go fuck your ass up” that is amusing to me
Anonymous, on May 18, 2009 wrote: what the fuck is emotional elbow pain? definitely something only girl have to deal with
	road_kill, on May 18, 2009 wrote: why do they all look like they are literally retarded people?! they are all making that "derrrrrr" looking face
Anonymous, on May 17, 2009 wrote: Oh great. Last year it was an obsession with Mexico, this year it’s Brazil. Can we have a poll about which country it’ll be next year? My entry: Bolivia. Iz gonna be awesome...
Anonymous, on May 16, 2009 wrote: I want to invite the "vai tomar" and "cafezinho" girls over to my place. We will have a tickle party that ends up with me winning.
Anonymous, on May 16, 2009 wrote: i understand the attempt at hilarious double entendre, but what does the "JOB" part of the title have anything to do with anything?
Anonymous, on May 16, 2009 wrote: does anyone else notice/dig on the exotic trousers being worn here?
Anonymous, on May 16, 2009 wrote: Since when has brazil been this superwhite? Even in iceland people have darker skin tones than these...
Anonymous, on May 15, 2009 wrote: you never seen fudeu?? are you from nicaragua or something?
Anonymous, on May 15, 2009 wrote: In the first page I have seen ’Você é idiota?’, ’Fudeu!’, ’Banana’ and ’Dor de cotovelo’ the ’Cafezinho’ and the ’Saco Cheio’ ones are bullshit... Never seen them in my life.
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