Comments on: A Great Selection of Nicknames

By: Euler

Euler — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:14:04 +0000

Gaucho means from Rio Grande do Sul, a south state of Brazil.

Look at Juninho’s nickname is also mentioned here:

http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/group-f/congratulations-to-lyon.html

By: Ze-Nito

Ze-Nito — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 22:19:48 +0000

Im from mozambique and like in brazil we speak portuguese as the official language, the name of the brazilian national team os Canarinhos ou a seleccao canarinha is not solely related to the little canaries, but also to the “Auri-Verde” collor of the jerseys, Auri-verde meaning yellow-green. And roberto carlos name was not just ignored caz he did not have a nickname but because there is a very famous old brasilian love ballads singer named Roberto Carlos, that is why the silva was left out they started calling him roberto carlos of futebol, that’s why silva his surname name was left out. because roberto carlos resembles the name of that famous braslian singer and by the way plenty of brasilian kids a named after this guy(the singer)

and some nicknames like Ronaldinhos are the short form of other names like we call kids in Portuguese, Ronaldinho derives from ronaldo and means little Ronaldo, so his real name is Ronaldo, the inho is used for little for example me Jose or Ze it woulb be Zezinho but not all short form or nicknames follow this rule for example juninho Pernambucano pernambucano measn from Pernambuco a city from the state of maranhao where he comes from, Ronaldinho Gaucho the brazilian nick from ronaldinho means ronaldinho the Gaucho, gaucho is a nickname for people from the city of belo horizonte state of minas gerais where he played if im not wrong

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:52:39 +0000

Thanks, Euler, for the clarification.

And thanks for your suggestion over at my little blog — I about rolled out of my chair when I read it.

By: Euler

Euler — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 10:27:42 +0000

The Canary theme is now more an icon than a bird or a color. If you say canário (canary) you are probably talking about the bird, but when you say it in the diminutive form (canarinho) you are talking about the team, the Selection. We think about the team and it’s shirt. We don’t use it as a color reference, as in “I’ll buy a canarinho car”, for an example. It never replaces the “yellow” word, unless you’re talking about the football uniform or about the team itself.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:02:07 +0000

Euler,

Thank you for answering my questions. Please excuse my ignorance.

One follow up question I have concerns the use of the word “Canary.” When speaking of the Brazilian team, does this word refer to the BIRD, or are you talking more about the color of the team’s jerseys?

Thanks again!

By: Euler

Euler — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:00:48 +0000

Canario = Canary

Canarinho = Little Canary

(sorry)

The bird:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary

By: Euler

Euler — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:24:37 +0000

Roberto Carlos didn’t have a nickname from the beginning, and he has one of those names with two first names (Roberto Carlos da Silva).

Our team nickname is Seleção Canarinho (Canary Selection) but we don’t say the Canary part as often. We use the shortened version, Seleção (Selection).

Carioca is a person who is born the city of Rio de Janeiro. Not the state, city only. No relation to the national team.

De Goddelijke Kanaries? Sounds like another language to me. Never heard this before.

Kanaries (os canarinhos) is not a form we are used to call our players. Probably a mistaken translation.

Canarinha is our yellow shirt. In Brazil things have gender too. Shirt is feminin, so you can say “the canarinha shirt”. But if you say “i’ll go with my canarinha” everybody knows you are talking about the shirt.

Maybe I’ll write a post about that too. Even our local clubs have nicknames!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:06:13 +0000

Very interesting, Euler. I am from the United States. This makes me wonder how Roberto Carlos got left out of all this. It seems like most of the top players are known by one name, except for him.

Would you be willing to tell me what Brazil’s team nick name is?

I tried to look it up myself, but I don’t know Portuguese. In my search, I came across several names (with my translation attempt in parenthesis):

Os Canarinhos (The Little Canaries)
Carioca (Citizens of Rio)
De Goddelijke Kanaries
Kanaries
Canarinha (Yellow)

Does any of these nicknames fit?

By: Euler

Euler — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:19:49 +0000

So it must be true after all, but very unknown to general people here. I would like to know if this book was released in Brazil too, in portuguese.

I’ve done some research today and that issue didn’t came up again.

I’m editing a post about racism in Brazil’s football for you. I hope you enjoy it.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:12:19 +0000

From “Futebol: Soccer the Brazilian Way” by Alex Bellos (p.33):

“Vasco’s directors chose the best footballers from the burgeoning suburban leagues — regardless of background or color…the main clubs set up their own league, excluding Vasco…Vasco were invited back under a set of elaborate conditions that, while not specifically banning black and poor white players, was meant to have that effect. Each player had to know how to sign his name. Vasco, with most of its players illiterate, found a way to jump that hurdle. It sent its squad to reading and writing classes and, if need be, changed their names. A player with a complicated surname would become, simply, ‘Silva.’”