Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Portuguese term or phrase:
eles ó depois arrecebem aquilo que a gente dizem
English translation:
whatever we say gets back to them
Added to glossary by
lexical
Nov 18, 2010 10:06
13 yrs ago
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Portuguese term
eles ó depois arrecebem aquilo que a gente dizem
Portuguese to English
Other
Slang
português dos Açores
This is a woman talking about making a complaint of domestic violence at the police station. The dialogue is very slangy:
"…quando a gente vão fazer queixa, eles ó depois arrecebem aquilo que a gente dizem, isso não tá drêto."
The preceding context is about how the details of what the woman says to the police is passed on to the abuser in the content of the accusation, further endangering the woman.
I really don't grasp what she means by "arrecebem" or what the word "ó" is doing there. The final clause clearly means "That's not right". Does anyone have any ideas? BTW; I don't think we should rely on the grammar being correct - I think this is a fairly uneducated person speaking.
"…quando a gente vão fazer queixa, eles ó depois arrecebem aquilo que a gente dizem, isso não tá drêto."
The preceding context is about how the details of what the woman says to the police is passed on to the abuser in the content of the accusation, further endangering the woman.
I really don't grasp what she means by "arrecebem" or what the word "ó" is doing there. The final clause clearly means "That's not right". Does anyone have any ideas? BTW; I don't think we should rely on the grammar being correct - I think this is a fairly uneducated person speaking.
Proposed translations
+1
5 hrs
Douglas Bissell
Portugal
Portugal
Native in English
Specializes in field
Portugal
Business Language Solutions Pt>Eng
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, English to Portuguese
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
whatever we "says" gets back to them
meaning the complaints get back to the agressors
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks Douglas, this hits just the right tone."
4 mins
Gad Kohenov
Israel
Israel
Israel
30 years of experience+satisfied clients
Native in: French 
, Hebrew
Works in: English to Hebrew, Hebrew to English, French to Hebrew, and 8 more.
later they accept what people say
An educated guess.
+1
1 hr
they, oh, later receive what people "says"
I've tried to maintain in English a little of their portuguese mistakes, their wrong way of speaking.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Gilmar Fernandes
: yes, colloquial enough to match the source
50 mins
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Obrigada, Gilmar!
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1 hr
they pass on whatever we say to them
or 'they totally pass on whatever we tell them' , 'they so pass on everything we tell them' (if you feel the need to translate the 'ó'.
2 hrs
then they take note of what we say
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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-11-18 13:05:10 GMT)
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'ó depois' is exactly the same as 'depois'. it's used in spoken language by 'folksy' people.
'a gente' means 'we' or 'one' as in: One can never be too careful.
'arrecebem' is 'recebem' meaning receive, write down or take note (of a complaint, for example).
The whole text, more than being 'slangy', is a transcription of the way the way words sound.
I hope it helps.
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Note added at 5 hrs (2010-11-18 15:55:58 GMT)
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I just realized that the recipient was not the police. In this case the text would be something like: later they get wind of what we told
Note from asker:
| Thanks for the very full explanation. I already knew about 'a gente' of course. |
Discussion
p. 94, The Land Beyond the Mountains, Janice Holt Giles
So I suppose we can translate that clause something like "afterwards they (the abusers) receive (get to see) what you said".
The «ó» has no meaning it is just a form of speech used by uneducated, poor people especially from a generation or two ago;
"arrecebem" is just a misconstruction of "recebem" from the verb to receive or to get - it is exactly the same situation as explained above. Hope this helps.