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caneca de travamento (da parte ativa)
a corrida que se adivinhava

Glossary entry

Portuguese term or phrase:

Livra!

English translation:

Good riddance!

Added to glossary by Oliver Simões
Mar 21, 2022 12:23
2 yrs ago
21 viewers *
Portuguese term

Livra!

Portuguese to English Other Poetry & Literature Science Fiction
E. olhou para B. furioso e, sem dizer palavra, enfiou-se dentro do casaco de vento. Grunhiu um “boa noite minhas senhoras” e saiu, pomposamente ofendido, para o vendaval que reinava lá fora.

-Livra! Que homem tão azedo – exclamou B.

Here's some additional input from the author:

Aqui vou dar vários exemplos porque temos, entre nós, a diferença de expressões entre Portugal e Brasil: "Livra! Isso está quente",
"Livra! Que coisa terrível", "Livra! Tira isso daqui".

Livra
1. Exprime advertência de perigo ou desafogo depois de passado um perigo.
2. Exprime aversão a alguma coisa cujo oferecimento se rejeita, etc. (Priberam)

Is it the same as "credo", "cruzes" in PT-Br?
credo! (Pop.) Us. para exprimir espanto e aversão; CRUZ-CREDO; CRUZES; TESCONJURO (Aulete)

L2: EN-US
Register: idiomatic
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 Good riddance!
4 Goodness gracious
4 Yeach! / Yuch!
4 Yikes!
3 Get him/that guy the hell out of here!
3 spare me !

Discussion

Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
Barbara Indeed. Thank you for your input. Not sure what happened to a comment I had just made. But anyway, "good riddance" seems to be more precise in terms of meaning and appropriateness. Thank you all for your suggestions and comments.
Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
Barbara Indeed. Thank you for your input. Not sure what happened to a comment I had just made. But anyway, "good riddance" seems to be more precise in terms of meaning and appropriateness. Thank you all for your suggestions and comments.
Barbara Cochran, MFA Mar 21, 2022:
Good Choice, Oliver I saw when I was doing my searching that one of the possible translations of "livrar" is "to rid oneself/get rid of"". And what you ended up choosing reflects the kind of short-on-words translation you wanted.
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver I completely agree with Barbara has said. However, it is also correct to say that "good grief" has become just as detached from its religious meaning as "good lord"!
In fact, I probably use religiously derived words everyday, and that is also because those expressions have become detached - I I'm neither a devout follower of a religion, nor do I often speak about religion!
Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
Lara, It makes sense. On the other hand, it's also true what Barbara pointed out about the increasing secularism and distancing from religious connotation when it comes to language use. I head "good grief" countless times and had no idea it was rooted in religion. As far as "good Lord" I've heard both ways: secular (in everyday talk) and religious (in church settings).
Barbara Cochran, MFA Mar 21, 2022:
I think that the expression "good Lord" has, and to a very great degree, because of the way it is used nowadays in societies that are increasingly secular, become greatly distanced from any religious connotation it may have had in centuries past. In fact, some contemporary religious fundamentalists might even look at the expression as "speaking the Lord's name in vain",even blasphemous, f imparted in an exasperated tone.
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver - DELIVRANCE I think almost all these ironic phrases of frustration come from a religious background/idea (historically speaking):
"SALVATION
Salvation, in religion, the DELIVRANCE of humankind from such fundamentally negative or disabling conditions as suffering, evil, finitude, and death. ...."
https://www.britannica.com/topic/salvation-religion
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Barbara This is possibly the same when Portuguese speakers use "Livra". There are religious connotations in lots of everyday expressions we use, even when we are not directly referring to religion - this is why words carry so much culture and history!
"good lord" with exasperation also has a religious connotation (I am referring to the word, not the characters intent).
...basically "good grief" comes from the same religious ideas as "good lord", in its historic root.
Barbara Cochran, MFA Mar 21, 2022:
Here In The US... ..."good grief" isn't thought so much as having a religious connotation as the exclamation "Good Lord!" might. Even though one isn't really thinking about the Lord when they are making the latter comment, either. It has to do more with being exasperated by someone's actions. Like in "Good Lord! Can you believe he really did that?"
Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
@Lara, Wow! I had no idea. Thank you for the reference.
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver Exactly. And "good grief" has a religious reference. It means the save us "lord save us".
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2017/07/good-grief.html#:...

Yes, “good grief” was originally a mild oath. It’s “a euphemism for ‘good God,’ ” according to The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (2d ed.), by Christine Ammer.
Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
@Lara, I don't know what to tell you. To my understanding, the phrase is meant to express an aversion to the guy. Something just dawned on me: "good grief". It's widely used in EN-US.
Good grief: an exclamation of irritation, frustration, or surprise. (Lexico.com)

It looks like the above definition goes well with the overall context of their encounter.

It's probably safer to go with something neutral, secular.
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver I was thinking of something like "Lord save us!", which we use in an ironical way, meaning that nothing can help now but god/religion etc. So this has a sarcastic/ironic usage perhaps? For example: "We are beyond help ow, so lets pray!"
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver I was thinking of something like "Lord save us!", which we use in an ironical way, meaning that nothing can help now but god/religion etc. So this has a sarcastic/ironic usage perhaps?
Oliver Simões (asker) Mar 21, 2022:
Lara, I don't know. The author couldn't tell me if it has a religious connotation when I asked if it's short for "Livra-me, Deus". Definitely, this is one of those differences between the Brazilian and the Portuguese variants.
Lara Barnett Mar 21, 2022:
@ Oliver Does this term in use have a religious reference/connotation?

Proposed translations

+1
2 hrs
Selected

Good riddance!

Sugestão.

good riddance
[good riddance]
DEFINITION
said to express relief at being free of an unwanted person or thing.
"good riddance to all the fanatical hangers-on" · [more]
Note from asker:
That's it. Thank you, Silvia. Here's another example: "Good riddance to bad rubbish": https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/good-riddance.html (That's me thinking of certain presidents.)
Peer comment(s):
agree Nick Taylor : I like this!
4 hrs
Me too! :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I understand that other translations might be possible, but this one seems to be closest in meaning. Thank you all."
15 mins

Get him/that guy the hell out of here!

One possibility.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2022-03-21 13:09:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"KEEP him the hell out of here," maybe?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2022-03-21 13:10:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"keep him the hell out of here (in the future)"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 48 mins (2022-03-21 13:11:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

keep him the hell out of here (in the future)
Note from asker:
Thank you, Barbara. Can you think of something shorter? Not sure that this would fit since the guy had already left.
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Goodness gracious

Livra is not the most commonly used interjection, and I would say it is more often read than said, and when said it is more often by older people, or as a euphemism for uglier words.
It blows off some steam in the face of something bad, unpleasant or even surprising.

It's origin is certainly in the verb livrar (to free [someone] from), but the current meaning is not really tied with this origin in any significant way, I believe.

I think "goodness gracious" could be used in this case to achieve a similar effect, depending on the context.

P.S. There is another, more widely used expression with the same verb, "Deus me livre" (similar to "God forbid"), literally "God free me from (this/that)"
Example sentence:

Goodness gracious, what a sour man!

Goodness gracious, how terrible!

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2 hrs

Yeach! / Yuch!

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "yech" is "an expression of strong disapproval and dislike", synonymous with "yuck": "an expression of disgust (= disapproval and dislike)".

This is equivalent to the definition of "Livra!" given by both the Priberam dictionary and the aulete:

Exprime aversão a alguma coisa cujo oferecimento se rejeita, etc. (Dicionário Priberam)

interj. || que designa admiração, repulsa, enfado ou desafogo de perigo já passado. Safa! Caramba! (Aulete)

But it comes even closer to the definition of the interjection "cruz-credo": interjeição
Expressão de repulsa ou de desagrado. = CREDO, CRUZES (Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa)
Reference:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/yech

https://dicionario.priberam.org/cruz-credo

Something went wrong...
21 hrs

Yikes!

Yikes! The pavement is hot!
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yikes
Yikes! How surprising that this design sold well in 2020.
Yikes! You Call That a Pencil?
Example sentence:

Yikes! That sure scared me! .

Reference:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/yikes

https://www.yourdictionary.com/yikes

Something went wrong...
1 day 2 hrs

spare me !

to prevent someone from experiencing an unpleasant, painful, or embarrassing situation or feeling.
Something went wrong...
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