• Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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      29 days ago

      No, it’s because of an old betting game called “jogo do bicho” (critters’ game):

      Check #24. “Veado” (deer), often misspelled “viado”, is used as a slur for gay people.

          • Čauky Mňauky@lemmy.zip
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            29 days ago

            Oh. Thanks. I never knew any of this. Also, TIL that the last name of one of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho, means “rabbit.”

            • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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              29 days ago

              Paulo Coelho is one of those authors that remind me how huge the impact of a good translator is.

              I read three of his books: Veronika Decide Morrer (Veronika Decides to Die), O Alquimista (The Alchemist), and Onze Minutos (Eleven Minutes). All in the original, in Portuguese. They weren’t as bad as people say, but they all felt lacking polish and substance.

              Then I checked Margaret Jull Costa’s translation of Veronika, and it’s like she sprouted life into it. It’s all in the subtle things: replacing a metaphor with another that works better, removing indirection from a more emotional moment, this kind of thing does wonders to make a book feel more alive, like she breathed life into it, while still being faithful to the original.

              (Another situation reminding me this impact is Interview with the Vampire. Anne Rice’s original is… okay? Kind of meh, to be honest. Clarice Lispector’s translation into Portuguese is a gem, though.)

        • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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          29 days ago

          It’s more like a lottery than a board game. But a really popular one, regardless of the prohibition against gambling, and the numbers / critters association never changes.

          There are other popular expressions from the same game. Like “deu zebra” (the result was zebra) for something extremely unlikely to happen. (Note how there’s no zebra in the sheet.)

      • Akasazh@lemmy.world
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        29 days ago

        A friend of mine one introduced his girlfriend to a Colombian friend. He was quite surprised.

        He name was Marieke, he heard maricon (pronounced quite similar) that’s a Latin slur for gay too.

        Thanks for filling in the etymology!

        • hraegsvelmir@ani.social
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          29 days ago

          At best, it sounds vaguely like marica, which is another common slur, but just like my reply ti some dumbass claiming veado and viado are the same in Portuguese, you would have to have some sort of developmental disorder to think Marieke and marica sound the same, or completely ignore Spanish orthography.

          • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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            29 days ago

            you would have to have some sort of developmental disorder

            Comparing dialectal variation with developmental disorder? That’s xenophobia and ableism in a single stroke, it’s as filthy and disgusting as the nationalism and classism you parroted in your earlier comment. You’re a bigot and deserve to be treated as such.

            And you’re still spreading misinformation. Yes, both words sound the same in a lot of pronunciations. No amount of you lying will magically change this.

    • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
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      29 days ago

      I looked it up, and allegedly it comes from a well known gambling game about animals, in which 24 is a deer, and “deer” sounds similar to a slur.