What are some of the bar / pub games that are commonly played in Brazil? Pool (billiards), foosball and darts are among some of the most popular games played in Brazil…here is some vocabulary.
PORTUGUESE POOL / BILLIARDS VOCABULARY - Portuguese Vocabulary List for Playing Pool
sinuca - pool
bilhar – billiards
mesa de sinuca - pool table
jogar sinuca - to play pool
encaçapar or “matar” a bola – to get the ball in the pocket
taco de bilhar, taco** – billiard cue / pool cue
“a bola branca é utilizada para impulsionar as outras” - “the white ball is used to propel the others” (*impulsionar - to boost, push, propel, put forward)
“João gosta de jogar bilhar no bar.” – “João likes to play pool at the bar
**What does ‘taco’ mean? Well, “taco de golfe” means ‘golf club’ in Portuguese, ‘taco de hóquei‘ means hockey stick in Portuguese, ‘taco de beisebol‘ means ‘baseball batt’ in Portuguese and ‘taco de pólo‘ means ‘polo mallet’ in Portuguese. So a ‘taco’ could be a club, stick, bat, cue or a mallet. So, WHY again are there so many words for wooden sticks in English?
…Just another reason why Portuguese is easier to learn than English.
PORTUGUESE DARTS VOCABULARY - Portuguese Vocabulary List for Playing Darts
o jogo de dardos - darts (the game)
o dardo - dart
a placa de dardos - dart board
o alvo - target
mirar - to aim
arremessar (o dardo) / jogar (o dardo) – to throw (the dart)
“na mosca!” - bullseye! (literally means: “on the fly”)
FOOSBALL IN BRAZIL
Brazil is divided on the word for foosball. In Pernambuco, Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Pará and a few other places, foosball is called totó. “Jogar totó” is the only way I ever talk about playing foosball. However, in São Paulo, and other parts of Brazil, foosball is known as pebolim. I’m not sure, but I think that I heard that in some parts of the US, foosball is only called “table soccer”.
mesa de pebolim / mesa de totó - foosball table
For other foosball / table soccer vocabulary, check out my Portuguese soccer vocab list.
OTHER PORTUGUESE GAME VOCABULARY
jogar – to play
“levar vantagem” - to get the upper hand
palpite - hunch/tip/opinion (*dar palpite = to give a tip. A common synonym for palpite is also “uma dica“)
parceiro (-s) - partner
uma partida - a match
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