What is a Gaúcho?
Next on my Brazilian dialect series, is probably one of the most different of Brazilian states, “Gauchês,” spoken by those who live in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (and parts of Mato Grosso do Sul), the southernmost state in Brazil. Those who live in Rio Grande do Sul are known as gaúchos, and historically, the state is somewhat separatist, but also home to two of the most famous things to come out of Brazil: rodízio de churrasco, and Gisele Bündchen. Because of its proximity to Uruguay and Argentina, gaúchos also tend to incorporate a lot of castellano in their vocabulary.
Gaúcho The Brazilian Cowboy:
The image of a gaúcho – the cattle rancher, wrangling in the vast fields of the state of Rio Grande do Sul – is invariably associated to two things. First, the mate – or chimarrão -, the hot bitter infusion of a special type of dry, crushed tea, sipped from a cuia, a calabash gourd. The second is his horse.
gaúcho culture - chimarrão and horses
The images above portray rodeios (rodeos) and other aspects of daily life in several municipalities of the Southern state Rio grande do Sul.
Portuguese Spoken in the South of Brazil
To the rest of Brazil, gaúchos are known to have funny accents and expressions which we love to make fun of. They tend to emphasize vowels, and roll their “r’s” almost like a Spanish “r.” Here are some you should learn before venturing to Porto Alegre or any other city in RS!
Below is a vocab list of Portuguese words from Rio Grande do Sul. The order goes, gauchês, português, English:
capaz!, dúvido!, Doubtful
bah, pois é, ah, hmm, i see (or whatever else when you have nothing else to say)
tchê, esse é multi-uso.., this one can be used for anything too – to exclaim, call someone – kind of like the paulista “meu,” and carioca, “cara.”
tri, muito, very – “tri legal” = very cool!
abichornado, aborrecido, triste, sad, upset
xepa ou bóia, comida, food
chambão, otário, idiot
daí tchê, oi, hi
guri, criança, menino, child, boy
oigalê!, aaêê!, yayee!
buenacha, boa, good one
pelear, brigar, argue, fight
Also check out these links:
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From Minas
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From São Paulo
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From Rio Grande do Sul
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From Rio
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From Espirito Santo
How To Speak Portuguese Like You Are From Bahia
How To Speak Portuguese Like You are From Pernambuco
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