One of the first things you learn when you arrive in Portugal is that the country's language is almost as abundant as its cuisine. The Portuguese are a people of many feelings and emotions - and for each one there is an exact word.
The variety of words, coupled with complex grammar, makes Portuguese one of the most difficult languages in the world. Even so, you will discover that it's also one of the most beautiful, because there's nothing you might experience that doesn't have a word to describe it.
Maybe that's why the language has its own unique words. These words are common and used on a daily basis, yet they cannot be translated into any other language. These are four words you have never heard before - but without which it is impossible to experience Portuguese culture.
1. Anteontem
Anteontem means "the day before yesterday". Honestly, we Portuguese don't understand how the rest of the world can live without this word. We use it every day, in every context, perhaps even more than the word "today" itself.
From a philosophical perspective, it makes perfect sense that the Portuguese love the word anteontem: Portugal is a country of history and the Portuguese people are very attached to their past. And what better way to connect with the past than inventing a word for it?
If you thought it was easy to understand what saudade means, think twice: the Portuguese have saudade to express what no longer exists, and also what never existed. One example is fado, the Portuguese music genre which sings of saudade when referring to loves that never happened or unexplainable sadness - a feeling also very commonly experienced by the Portuguese, who retain a strangely comforting melancholy within.
It is easier to experience saudade than to describe it. Portuguese culture has an abundance of works that exalt saudade and help us understand the feeling.
The word comes from the verb desenrascar, which means to creatively improvise the solution to a difficult problem.
When the Portuguese resort to desenrascanço, or "resourcefulness", the solution they find is generally not perfect, nor definitive: it is just a way to solve the problem immediately. It is often necessary to look for a better solution later.
We say that desenrascanço is the Portuguese soul because that's the way Portuguese people are: they never fail to overcome a challenge or leave a job undone. In Portugal, everything is solved and everything has a solution. It's just a question of creativity!
Desbundar means enjoying freedom after a phase of restriction. We Portuguese live in a country full of sunshine. We don't like to be closed in, limited in our movements or overworked. When we are, we feel the need to desbundar : "de-stress" and compensate for stress by making the most of new-found freedom.
Depending on where in Portugal you live, you'll find several synonyms for the word desbundar - but none of them appears in the dictionary!
You don't need to have lived in Portugal very long to realise that the Portuguese express a very wide variety of feelings. Expressing emotions in public is acceptable, both orally and with gestures (and often by talking with gestures).
Rather than learning all the words in the dictionary, it is important to know the ones that best match your personality. Because we have many ways of expressing feelings, we are very vulnerable to interpretation: the same feeling can be translated into two words - one positively charged and one negatively charged. Knowing how to use the right word helps others understand you better and avoids misunderstandings.
In any case, it is important to stress that the Portuguese are very affectionate and open people. As well as being patient with you whilst you learn the language, they will make a point of helping you learn it. In restaurants, shops, hotels, city streets, businesses... Be prepared to have a Portuguese teacher on every corner!
