If you’re traveling “generally in the mines”,
The state of Minas Gerais, that is:
-inho and -inha at the end of the word
Makes it diminutive
-inhos and -inhas if there’s more than one.
And sometimes -zinha and -zinho
But I won’t get into the
Wherefores and whys
Of adding the zed.
My wife, nee girlfriend, taught me this:
Everything is made smaller here
Lest we offend or frighten.
If you want someone to stop by the house
For just a little while, you suggest a
Passadinha em casa for
A cafézinho, literally
A tiny coffee, probably several.
Little João, Johnny, is Joãozinho
Little Maurice, Mauricinho, is a *******
A sobriquet insulting to the rich and useless.
You can have a cervejinha,
But while it may be small,
I guarantee it won’t be just one;
The diminutive here
Is only a manner of speaking.
Amorzinho means my little love,
My dearest one.
A bundinha
Is a cute little ***.
Garfinho is a salad fork
Obviously, there are a lot of nuances
You'll need to work out.
To make things bigger add an -ão
And don’t worry how to pronounce it for now
(But it rhymes with “now,” kind of.)
So, a big piece of bread is a pãozão;
Pãozinho is more bite size.
A chunk is a pedação
A nibble is a pedacinho
A Yorkie is a cachorrinho
While a Great Dane is a cachorrão,
And also a guy who can’t keep it in his pants.
Tchauzinho is a little goodbye
Not so big, like,
I’ll see you soon.
Rápido means fast
Rapidinho means really fast
Rapidão, too.
Beijo is a kiss
Beijinho is a little kiss, a peck
Beijão is big kiss,
Not a French kiss;
It expresses affection,
Not necessarily love.
Tiozão is not a big uncle,
(Or maybe it could be?)
But can be a terrific uncle
Or a guy who tells dad jokes
Or a benefactor or a boomer
Or maybe a sugar daddy.
In language as in life,
Context is everything.
