Sometimes it's a bit hard for us to explain the urgency of climate change to older people," she says. "It's great when it gets through." Even if the children win their case, change will take a long time To snitch on”, or dedurar, is even weirder. Can you imagine if we said “ stiff-fingering someone” in English? I’m glad that at least in this case English sounds more appropriate than Portuguese! 12. Pernilongo The Portuguese believe every region of Portugal is unique and you can’t know Portugal just by visiting a few cities. It’s definitely worth it to explore just a little bit more and soak up the cultures and diversity. 10. Never say the Portuguese are lazy The Portuguese are very hard working people despite the considerably lower wages paid in Portugal compared to other European countries. They are proud of their achievements and you can see that in many of their industries. Say the right things and you’ll go far So, if you want to hold on to your Portuguese friends and make some new ones, avoid saying these things we talked about here and you’ll fit right in.

Apparently, the expression originated to describe beggars who would hide an arm underneath their coats to pass themselves off as disabled war veterans. 16. Dor de cotovelo

8. Have little monkeys in the head

Portugal people are really simple and practical. When you hear “bread bread, cheese cheese” you are probably mixing up something that shouldn’t be mixed orconfused. This phrase means to communicate to you that “it’s this simple, as bread is bread and cheese is cheese”. An old woman drinks whisky for the first time. She thinks for a while, and then says: “Strange, the stuff tastes exactly like the medicine my late husband had to take for twenty years!” To have a flea behind the ear means to be suspicious or distrust something. It’s an informal way to say that the story doesn’t seem to match up to the reality,and thatthey don’t really believe in what is in doubt. If you have a thing or two to say about it or you want to be a critic of their history, you should choose your words very carefully. Manon Museux, 22, works as an intern with the quality control of the fish coming into the port in Peniche, Portugal.

Why did the Portuguese football team bring a ladder to the game? Because they heard the match was in the “top” corner! What a do a bunch of people in Brazil speak? Portuguese. What does just one Brazilian speak? Portugoose. While the origin of this phrase is controversial, some folks argue it references the very real physical pain you’ll feel on your elbows after a night spent drowning your sorrows at the bar. 17. Botar a boca no trombone But when lawyers at GLAN suggested suing governments via the European Court of Human Rights, he hesitated. He wasn't sure what a lawsuit was, only that it was "something adults did to each other." The Portuguese Colonial Empire was one of the longest-lived empires in European History. Starting in the beginning of the “Age of Discovery”, with the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, it lasted until 1999, with the transfer of Macau to China. The Start of the Colonial Empire

Train Travel

Wit and sarcasm are an essential part of the Portuguese-speaking culture, which is utterly reflected in the funny Portuguese sayings and words I’ve listed above. Aber Herr Ober, der Kaffee ist ja kalt!”“Gut, dass Sie mir das sagen, mein Herr! Eiskaffee kostet nämlich einen Euro mehr …” 3. The only thing funnier than Germans is German grammar In 1526, they did the first transatlantic slave voyage, from the Coast of Africa to Brazil. This set the example for other European powers to do the same on their colonies, soon becoming a generalized thing. The word reminds us how our mouth can hit just as hard and usually more effectively than our fists! And like reality TV has shown us, a bate-boca can be really entertaining to watch as well. 14. Vira-lata

After that, the country never became the great power it once was. It lost several colonies (including its largest one, Brazil) and trade routes, it saw its capital being destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 and it was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars. Short portugal puns are one of the best ways to have fun with word play in English. The portugal humour may include short referendum jokes also. Try telling that old lady that we now have better healthcare, that young people have more opportunities to learn and lead a better life; tell her that we have fast-access internet porn and a longer lifespan, and she’ll die of dehydration before admitting the present is better than the past. You might even get that bottle of water thrown in your face. Limit conversation to Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, or Mariza.Despite appearances, the expression isn’t as surreal as it may sound. The verb pregar can also mean “to preach” or, in this case, “to fold”. This definition, however, is all but archaic these days. Sixteen-year-old Sofia (left) and 13-year-old André Oliveira stand in Parque da Paz in Lisbon. The siblings are two of six young people in Portugal who are suing the governments of Europe's most polluting countries, including their own, to force them to cut emissions. Mein Hund jagte immer Leuten auf dem Fahrrad hinterher,bis ich ihm das Fahrrad wegnahm! 10. TBH we don’t really get this one When the Portuguese language was born a few centuries later, it ended up adopting weird Christianized names for all weekdays throughout the year. Still more confusing is the fact that in modern Portuguese feira means “fair” (as in “trade fair”) instead of “day off”. 10. Quebra-molas

As a native speaker, I may not be exactly impartial when I say Portuguese is among the funniest languages out there. Yet, those of you who’ve already taken to studying it should be able to agree with me. Okay, in line with Chandler´s joke, we arrive to this pearl of the Portuguese word puns. If you see it literally, it will mean something like “Never spend everything”. You know, this could be the kind of advise a parent gives to their kid, telling them to never spend all their money, for example. Seems like a nice advice, right? Why did the Portuguese pastry chef always bring a ladder to the bakery? To make sure his pastéis de nata were truly “heavenly”! There is a deeper point. Ultimately, Seignovert said, laughing at our neighbours is “recognising, even celebrating, our particularities. It shows we’re not indifferent. Europe isn’t just political and economic, it’s also cultural – about all these nations, living together. The EU hasn’t made enough of that.”Change takes decades," he says. "For example, it can take 200 years to see full-grown Mediterranean forests from the bare soil after a fire."