Mayonnaisacal Musings on Portuguese

As a follow-up to my “Random Musings on Spanish” post from Buenos Aires, some interesting Portuguese tidbits:

-the phrase to describe when you get off topic is “viajar no maionese” or literally, to travel through mayonnaise. Apparently mayonnaise is the epitome of randomness.

-placemats are called “American games” (jogos americanos) because Americans serve the meal to everyone separately on their own plate, whereas Brazilians eat buffet-style from community dishes

-there is a verb solely to describe when women walk in such a way to showcase their backside (rebolar)

-in Brazil, the idiom for “beggars can’t be choosers” is “if someone gives you a horse, don’t look at its teeth” (cavalo dado não se olha os dentes). This comes from the fact that horses’ teeth elongate as they age. So if you’re going to buy a horse, you should look at its teeth to see if it’s young, but if someone gives you a horse, you should be grateful no matter how old it is.