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esculhambar
Jun. 29th, 2005 09:06 pm"esculhambar" (intransitive) is one of those extremely Portuguese words, meaning "to make a big mess", strongly associated in my mind with drunkenness and decay. It's etymologically related to Spanish "escojonar". Which is why you gotta love jokeful Anglicizations like "esculhambation".
Strangely, while the past tense makes a perfectly good adjective ("esculhambado"), I can't interpret it as a directly-transitive verb, which is what the dictionary says it is.
"esculhambar com" means "to diss (i.e. speak disrespectfully of) sth or someone", and is probably even more common than the intransitive or directly-transitive forms.
"avacalhar" is a synonym I've heard from people from Minas.
"esculachar" seems to be another choice.
A dictionary from Portugal offers an interesting alternative: "escarnecer" (apparently something they did to Jesus). "esculhambar", however, is not nearly as strong as "humilhar" (humiliate). It's not unusual for friends to "esculhambar" each other, either jokingly or as serious criticisms; whereas if they "humilhar"ted each other, this would indicate either the end of the friendship or a highly submissive relationship.
Also, you can "esculhambar" people even after they're dead, whereas "humilhar" usually requires the object's presence. (I have unusual meanings for my words, so do correct me if I'm wrong)
Anyway, Google has proven to my satisfaction that "Minas" is associated with "avacalhar" while "Pernambuco" is associated with "esculhambar".
Btw, this calls itself a Thesaurus of Brazilian Portuguese, but it seems closer to a sort of WordNet, since it talks about subkinds.
Strangely, while the past tense makes a perfectly good adjective ("esculhambado"), I can't interpret it as a directly-transitive verb, which is what the dictionary says it is.
"esculhambar com" means "to diss (i.e. speak disrespectfully of) sth or someone", and is probably even more common than the intransitive or directly-transitive forms.
"avacalhar" is a synonym I've heard from people from Minas.
"esculachar" seems to be another choice.
A dictionary from Portugal offers an interesting alternative: "escarnecer" (apparently something they did to Jesus). "esculhambar", however, is not nearly as strong as "humilhar" (humiliate). It's not unusual for friends to "esculhambar" each other, either jokingly or as serious criticisms; whereas if they "humilhar"ted each other, this would indicate either the end of the friendship or a highly submissive relationship.
Also, you can "esculhambar" people even after they're dead, whereas "humilhar" usually requires the object's presence. (I have unusual meanings for my words, so do correct me if I'm wrong)
Anyway, Google has proven to my satisfaction that "Minas" is associated with "avacalhar" while "Pernambuco" is associated with "esculhambar".
Btw, this calls itself a Thesaurus of Brazilian Portuguese, but it seems closer to a sort of WordNet, since it talks about subkinds.