I found a text on the internet about Brazilian Accents. In this case, the article says about differences between Minas Gerais and São Paulo. I was born in inside of Rio de Janeiro, but next to the state border of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. It's natural for me to say "estou agarrado", instead to say "estou ocupado" (I'm busy).
In general, the most of people in Brazil understand the regions expressions, even if you don't use in your daily life. For example, in São Paulo, people say "bolacha", no Rio, we say "biscoito" (similar a biscuit in British English, but so different that "cookie" in American English). If a "paulista" say "Eu quero comer uma bolacha" (I wanna eat a cookie) I'll understand that "Ele quer comer um biscoito" (They wanna eat a biscuit"), and not that "Ele que um tapa na cara". ("They wanna a slap in the face"). I forgot to say, in Rio "bolacha" means "tapa na cara" (slap in the face).
If you wanna know more about it, follow this link:
http://papodelulus.com.br/novidades/eu-sei-que-voce-tem-sotaque/
That old quarrel, "biscoito X bolacha", has always sounded funny.
My family is from Nordeste, so I know a lot of expressions people in São Paulo, which is where I live, don't know. For instance, "bolacha", might be "lapada", as in "Vou te dar uma lapada!". "Azucrinar, arretado" are also words that sound pretty natural for me, but my friends always grimace when I say them.
I think Brazilian accents have more to do with people's social classes than the region they are born. the poor speak a more "simplified" version of the language like not conjugating some verbs wrong or forgeting the final 's'.
about "biscoito" and "bolacha" it is really a regionalism. about half of Brazil (mainly in south and southeast) says 'biscoito' and the half (mainly in north and northeast) say bolacha. 'biscoito' comes from French 'biscuit'. many rich families in colonial Brazil spoke French and they used this word a lot. 'bolu', as we know, means cake in Latin. 'acha' is a suffixe that means 'small', so it would be 'small cake'. the poor didn't speak French and thought a 'biscuit' was just a small cake.
really? I didn't know this one. maybe rio natives are really crazy.... where did they get that one? food has nothing to do with a 'slap in the face'.
I have some Brazilian friends who use "tu" instead of "você" but use the verb conjugation of "você."
It doesn't confuse so much though. Haha, I love Brazilian Portuguese!
Really, Beatriz. Lapada is not usual in my region, but I know this expression. In general, I like the variety of accents, but sometimes is funny when some people cannot undestand some words.
