Thursday, June 17, 2010

Shut Up!

So Hawk Bueno, I mean, Gavião Bueno, I mean Galvão Bueno’s now legendary penchant for getting on people’s nerves has made the New York Times. No less. I guess he has the World Cup to thank for his instant worldwide notoriety. Or hardly.

For what it’s worth, however, he doesn’t seem any more willing now to finally give in to pleas to, well, just shut up!

Shut up is probably one of those English verbs that many non-English speakers the world over are familiar with. Maybe because it is an offensive term that people like to have under their belt, or maybe because commands in any foreign language are relatively easier to remember. Whatever the case, here are some more examples using it.

> Can someone get that dog to shut up?
Alguém por favor faz* esse cachorro calar a boca?

> Nothing shuts her up!
Nada faz ela* calar a boca!


These are other common phrases for telling people to shut up (remember, they’re all very offensive!)

> “Shut your piehole. You’re talking too much!” (piehole is a slang term meaning ‘mouth’)

> “Can’t you just shut your mouth?”

> “Just shut your face and sit down.”


Additionally, shut up is used as an expression of incredulity, similar to “I can’t believe it!”, “Really?”, “No way!”. This is very informal in tone, and typically used by young people. For example:

A: I just ran into Madonna in the elevator!
B: Shut up!

Or imagine someone tells you that, according to research, the number 1 vegetable consumed by young kids in the U.S. is -- peas, corn, carrots, broccoli? No... French fries! Not good, right? Check what the woman at 31 seconds of this TV commercial says.


By extension, shut up is also used to express satisfaction, pleasure, approval, awe, or reverence. This is also very popular among young people.

For instance: You’re crazy about pastel and caldo de cana, but having lived in Alaska for the last 10 years you haven’t seen any of that for ages and therefore miss it sorely. One day you walk into your regular deli and find out that they’re now selling pastel and caldo de cana! In disbelief, you shout:

Shut up!


That's it for now! Till next time!



*Note: I deliberately chose the constructions "Alguém faz esse cachorro calar a boca" and "Nada faz ela calar a boca" over "Alguém faça esse cachorro calar a boca" and "Nada a faz calar a boca", respectively.

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