Beijinhos

One of the Reasons We Love Portugal

Yesterday, I wrote about learning the Portuguese language. Yes, it is difficult. In my opinion, more difficult than Spanish. Yes, it is often difficult to pronounce a word. But it is worth the effort when you hear the Portuguese say goodbye.

A Few Ways to Say Goodbye

There are a few different ways to say goodbye in Portugal. You can say, “Adeus”. Spelled similar to the Spanish word…but when an “s” is at the end of the word in Portuguese is becomes a “sh”. So while very similar it is decidedly different.

More commonly people say Tchau…just like the Italians. But, of course, if one goodbye is good … two are better. “Tchau, tchau”.

On the Phone

But what we noticed, when we heard people speak on the phone were two “strange” things. I shouldn’t say strange. What I mean is it took us the longest time to figure out what they were saying and why they were saying it.

First, when the Portuguese answer the phone they didn’t say “Olá”. Instead, they say, “Estou” (pronounced “stou” or “toe”) which literally means “I am”, but is intended to mean “It is me”. We were driving with a realtor when he answered his phone using his car’s audio system. I was certain I heard him say, “Toe!” After he ended his call, I asked him what he had said. “Tou”….”Stou”…”Estou”. It took my listening more closely and him repeating the word three times while speaking more slowly for me to understand what he was saying.

But while I found hello to be confusing, I found goodbye to be enchanting. “Beijinhos”. I learned that when you added “inhos” to many words it meant “a little”. I then learned that “beijo” means kiss. So beijinhos means little kisses. More often than not, when one says goodbye instead of signing off with “Adeus” or “Tchau” they say “beijinhos”. And not just to a family member. Realtors talking to a colleague say “beijinhos”. Our realtor, having known us for just a few weeks may say it to us.

Like the Sidewalks

So once again, I am left with a question for us all to ponder. Just as I asked before, “What does it say about a country that they decorate their sidewalks?” … I ask you now, what does it say about a country where people end their calls with “little kisses”? I’ll let you decide.