Author Archives: gbarbosa@usc.edu

“Saci-Pererê”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Occupation: University of Chicago Student
Residence: Chicago; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/06/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

There’s this urban legend in Brazil of a child called “Saci-Pererê”. He is from an indigenous tribe and only has one leg and runs around naked with a smoking pipe and a red hood. He is known to be a funny and disobedient, who plays with animals and hides stuff. According to legend, the Saci is in the swirling wind and can be captured by throwing a sieve over the swirls. After capture, you must remove the hood of the creature to ensure its obedience and trap it in a bottle. I used to love him when I was younger.

Saci is a famous folkloric legend in Brazil, everyone knows him. He is said to be a myth but occasionally someone would appear dressed up as him in kid’s parties.  Brazil is known to have many figures in folklore and he is definitely one of the most popular ones. It is interesting to hear about him again because I didn’t remember the story of how to capture him, I only remembered of his appearance. I believe children like him so much because he represents the kids in a way: a disobedient person who likes animals and plays around with objects.

Academic source:

https://www.eamb.org/2011/03/saci-perere/

“Casa da Mãe Joana”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 22
Occupation: Software Engineer
Residence: San Francisco, California; São Paulo, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/07/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

My folk simile is a very popular one in Brazil, in Portuguese the simile says: “Isso tá que nem casa da mãe Joana.” In English this would translate to “this is like mom Joana’s house.” I heard this folk simile for the first time a couple of years ago in a movie. The name of the movie was actually “Casa da Mãe Joana” and essentially what it means is a really messy house with a bunch of people and when things get really out of hand and there are a lot of things going on, super messy, everything is all over the place, this is a mom Joana’s house. So every time I think about a place where things are out of hand I think of this comparison.

As Alexandre mentioned, this simile is very popular in Brazil. People use it a lot in parties when things get completely out of control and everything is all over the place. My parents use it a lot, I guess it’s an old saying and comparison but that has been present until this day. Apparently Mom Joana’s house was a very messy place in the movie and as a consequence people make this comparison. It’s an amusing way to say that the place is a mess without sounding bad. It’s perhaps a proposition to get things in order and organize the place. People who aren’t familiar with this comparison will have a hard time to understand what it means but it’s so common in Brazil that I believe almost everyone knows.

Saint Longinus

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 22
Occupation: Economics Student
Residence: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Performance Date: 03/16/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

Whenever I lose something in brazil, and you can’t find it, there is this little, sort of prayer that we do, we promise to Saint Longinus that if he brings back, whatever we lost, we are going to jump three times for him. Apparently he likes jumping, I don’t really know. I heard this for the first time from my grandmother when I was around 10 years old and I lost a toy. She actually told me to pray to him and promise that I was going to jump three times if I found my toy. That’s exactly what happened and it became a tradition to me. Nowadays I just try to look for the things I lose. I didn’t really continue with this belief but it’s something that I trusted throughout my childhood.

Daniel is my brother and I grew up my entire life knowing about this belief. I don’t remember doing that when I lost something but I think it’s a nice way to believe that you will find what you’ve lost. For the most part, I just prayed in general that I would find something that I was looking for but I never really jumped three times for Saint Longinus. This belief is famous in Brazil and many people, even adults, still do this. In my opinion, this is more related to religion and faith than any other thing.

“Mais Perdido que Cego em Tiroteio”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; São Paulo, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/20/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

There is this popular simile that I heard multiple times, I don’t know the first time I heard it but I keep repeating because it is so famous in Brazil that goes “estou mais perdido que cego em tiroteio” which means that I am more lost than a blind man in cross fire. It’s pretty self-explanatory; it means that you have no idea of what’s going on in the current situation. It’s a nice expression; a great symmetry and I think it’s funny. Although it could be seen a joke I use it occasionally.

This is definitely one of the most popular similes in Brazil; people use it a lot, including myself. When people are telling a story and someone doesn’t seem to understand they use the simile. It’s supposed to be entertaining, even though it might sound offensive at first, it’s just supposed to be a joke. Today I had some trouble to understand a tough math problem for my macroeconomics class and I used it to myself. People also say it when they are driving and aren’t able to find the destination they are looking for. It comes out spontaneously and it’s a fun way to say that you have no clue of what is going on.

Bagman

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; São Paulo, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/20/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

In Brazil there is this story of what we call the “homem do saco” which translates to the bagman. It’s sort of a bedtime story that if you don’t behave well, this random guy will come during your sleep and put you in his bag and kidnap you. He would carry you and take it with him. It’s something that my grandma used to tell me when I was young and misbehaving. It used to scare the hell out of me, so I carried that with me, I guess. Of course I don’t believe in it and I have never seen this man before, but I used to believe in the story not only because a grownup would tell me, which made it more authentic but also because she used to say that it had happened with people she knew.

Although I am from Brazil, this was the first time I ever heard about this story. According to Artur it is really common, perhaps from the state he is from because I had not heard of it. I believe it is an extremely effective way of teaching kids a lesson or thinking twice before they misbehave. Children tend to believe in these stories when they are young and they actually change their behavior for the better. That’s why at a young age, in my personal opinion, adults sometimes lie to kids to educate them through these stories, which have been efficient.