I guess this is, literally, nothing more than the innocuous "Our Sex Shop." But I love the angelic figure with the halo and what it suggests, which is peculiarly Brazilian (I think).Perhaps the most common expletive in Brasil is "Nossa!" which is an abbreviation of "Nossa Senhora," or "Our Lady," which refers to Jesus' mother. It is the used as the equivalent of "Jesus Christ!" or "What the Fuck!" in English.
Perhaps someone can tell me if "Nossa Senhora" is used as an expletive in other Latin American countries.
Here we have Nosso because it modifies "Sex Shop," (masculine), and not Nossa Senhora (feminine). Still, I like to think of this as Our Lady's Sex Shop.
If the figure with the halo isn't perfectly clear, you can go to the website which is noted on the sign to get a better view.
2 comments:
Adorei te ver ensinando português! Muito provavelmente outras línguas também expressam surpresa exclamando o nome de Nossa Senhora, mas não acho que elas tenham a expressão "nossa". Pelo menos eu nunca ouvi... Pergunta pro Heitor, ele estuda espanhol, né? Mas acho que não deve ter, não...
But I'd say that the most accurate English translation would be "oh my!", because, like "nossa", it's a shortened use of the possessive pronoun derived from a religious expression. (Right?) And they mean exactly the same thing, and are equal in strength and appropriateness, I believe. But I guess "my!" isn't as common as "nossa!". Based on usage, I'd simply translate it as "wow!".
And what did you say is peculiarly Brazilian? You mean the way religion and sex are put together? Don't forget it's not any angel, it's Cupid, which makes it more romantic than naughty, I think.
Gostei de você ter voltado, Gerald, escreva mais! Abração!
Alexandre, I don´t remember if I meant that "Nossa Senhora" was peculiarly Brazilian or if I meant the abbreviation to "Nossa!" But I didn't mean the combination of religion and sex. (If you've been following the Catholic church's sex scandals, you know that combination is universal.) I wrote it a day ago and I've already forgotten what I meant.
Heitor thinks, like you, that "Nossa Senhora" is common throughout Latin America in one form or another, but probably not the abbreviated form of "Nossa."
It always has seemed to me that people frequently use "Nossa!" when they want to express something stronger than "wow," something with a note of displeasure...like "watch where you're going, clumsy." But,hey, it's your language and I accept your translation. And maybe you haven't done as many clumsy things as I have.
And because English is my language, I will point out that many things are both romantic and naughty at the same time. :-) But you know that.
Thanks for the comment.
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