Meaning of voz de veludo, gato e sapato and lavar roupa suja

Meaning of voz de veludo, gato e sapato and lavar roupa suja

Meaning of voz de veludo, gato e sapato and lavar roupa suja

Hello there and welcome to our Portuguese Basic Tips 99, about the meaning of voz de veludo, lavar roupa suja and gato e sapato.

On today’s podcast, we are going to speak about the meaning of voz de veludo, lavar roupa suja and gato e sapato.

Let’s get started!

Voz de veludo

As I write this text, an old song comes to mind: palavras duras em voz de veludo / e tudo muda / adeus velho mundo/ há um segundo tudo estava em paz

Pay attention to this part of the song: palavras duras em voz de veludo.

The songwriter wanted to make a counterpoint between the harshness of the words spoken and the delicacy of the voice that pronounced them. So, when we use the term voz de veludo, we mean that it is a delicate voice.

You can also listen the term “voz aveludada” meaning the same.

  • Aquele locutor tem voz de veludo. (That announcer has a velvet voice)
  • Ela tem a voz aveludada quando acorda. (She has a velvet voice when she wakes up).

Click on the link to visit our previous episode about the meaning of dar ponto sem nó, faca e o queijo na mão and santo de casa

Fazer de gato e sapato

This expression does not have a literal meaning. It is something that we use more because of the internal rhyme than for what it refers to.

Look, fazer alguém de gato e sapato is to make fool of someone. It has nothing to do with cats and shoes. I think the best translation to it would be “to walk all over someone”.

  • Não deixe eles te fazerem de gato e sapato (Don’t let them walk all over you.)
  • Eles te fazem de gato e sapato porque você deixa. (They walk all over you because you let them do it)

  Lavar roupa suja

This expression is used when it is necessary to discuss something that is not yet fully resolved between two or more people.  It is usually tuff situation in which two people try to forgive each other.

  • Lennon e McCartney lavaram a roupa suja e voltaram a ser amigos depois do fim dos Beatles. (Lennon and McCartney made up and became friends again after the Beatles ended.)

We also use the expression “lavar roupa suja em public”. This expression is equivalent to “airing the dirty laundry”.

  • O casal é famoso por lavar a roupa suja na internet (The couple has been known to air dirty laundry online).

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Click on the link to visit the song cuide bem do seu amor

See you soon!

Thanks!

Marcos Sales

 

 

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1 Response

  1. 14 de June de 2021

    […] Clique no link para visitar nosso episódio anterior, sobre o significado de voz de veludo, gato e sapato e lavar roupa suja […]

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