I was at the counter of a lanchonete (a fastfood place that specializes in small savory snacks or salgados, coffee, sandwhiches, cakes, and juices) yesterday enjoying a coxinha de frango and a coffee with milk, in a working class/poor neighborhood in central São Paulo. The next guy to the counter comes up and asks the elderly man attending the counter for a "beekee." The old man looks at me, but I have no clue what the guy is asking. The old man says, "não entendi," [I didn't understand] still looking at me. I respond "eu também não" [I didn't either]. The guy who asked for the "beekee" looks frustrated. "Vc não tem esquero grande?" [You don't have a big lighter, do you?] "Ahhh," guy behind the counter says and I think to myself at the same time. It turned out the lanchonete did, in fact, have lighters.
So, if you didn't catch this, the guy asked for a Bic (as in the lighter brand), using Portuguese pronunciation rules. In addition to feeling proud that the guy behind the counter consulted me to figure out if he understand correctly, I thought it was interesting what gets turned into a proprietary eponym (e.g. aspirin, kleenex, jello), varies in transnational contexts.
anyways, thought of the day...
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