How Ahow A Portuguese-to-English Phrasebook Became A Cult Comedy Sensation Portuguese-To-English Phrasebook Became A Cult Comedy Sensation - Atlas Obscura

8/21/2016
HowaPortuguesetoEnglishPhrasebookBecameaCultComedySensation|AtlasObscura
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HowaPortuguesetoEnglishPhrasebookBecameaCultComedySensation
Meet1883'smostabsurdlanguageguide.
byTuckerLeightyPhillips
June29,2016
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ReadtheTreeLeaves,WithanArtist'sInventedTreeFont7NomineesfortheBestTreeinLiteratureWrappingArmchairsinWire,andOther
ChildhoodAttemptstoTravelinTime
MarkTwain,afanofEnglishAsSheIsSpoke.(Photo:LibraryofCongress/LCDIGds05448)
Inthemiddleofthe19thcentury,arelativelyunknownauthornamedPedroCarolinorapidlygainedintercontinentalpopularityoverasmall
PortuguesetoEnglishphrasebook.EnglishasSheIsSpoke(orOnovoguiadaconversaoemportuguezeinglez)wasoriginallyintendedtohelp
PortuguesespeakersdabbleintheEnglishtongue,butwaspennedbyamanwhospokelittletonoEnglishhimself.And,insteadofhelping
Portuguesespeakerslearnasecondlanguage,itbecameacultclassicforfansofineptandunintentionalhumor.
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8/21/2016
ItquicklygainednotorietyamongEnglishspeakers,includingauthorMarkTwain,whowrotetheintroductionforthefirstEnglishedition,published
in1883.Twainendorsedthebook,saying"Nobodycanaddtotheabsurdityofthisbook,nobodycanimitateitsuccessfully,nobodycanhopeto
produceitsfellowitisperfect.
ThecoverforONovoGuiadeConversao,emPortuguezeInglez,emDuasPartes.(Photo:PublicDomain)
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ItispresumedthatCarolinowrotethebookthroughtheaidofaPortuguesetoFrenchdictionaryandaFrenchtoEnglishdictionary,usingtheformer
foraninitialtranslationofawordorphrasefromPortuguese,andthelattertoconvertitfromFrenchintoEnglish.Theresult,ofcourse,isa
mishmashofcloudygibberish.
Forinstance,thesecondchapteristitledFamiliarPhrases,andfeaturessentencesintendedtohelpthewearyPortuguesetravelerineveryday
conversation.ThesephrasesincludeclassicslikeHehasspitinmycoattakethatboyandwhiphimtomuchandtheoftusedtheseapricots
andthesepeachesmakemeandtocomewaterinmouth.
ThebookopenswithaprefacewritteninanidiosyncraticstyleofEnglish.Itdetailsthebooksintendedaudience,statingthatitmaybeworththe
acceptationofthestudiouspersons,andespeciallyoftheYouth,ofwhichwededicatehimparticularly.Perhapspredictably,EnglishasSheIsSpoke
didnotbecomepopularamongPortuguesespeakingstudents.Infact,itwasneverpublishedinPortugal,althoughitdidfindanaudience133years
laterinBrazil,whenitwasreleasedasacomedytitle.
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8/21/2016
AphotochromoftheTowerofLondon,1890.Thebook,publishedin1855,wasintendedtohelpPortuguesespeakerstoimprovetheirEnglish
languageskills.(Photo:LibraryofCongress/LCDIGppmsc08566)
Literaryjournals,smallnewspapers,andothernichegroupshelpedspreadthewordaboutCarolinosworkbeforeitwasgivenitsfirstproperrelease
asahumorbook,firstinBritainin1883,andthenintheUnitedStateslaterthatyear.EndorsementsbyesteemedwriterslikeTwainandJames
Millingtonhelpedtheunusualphrasebookgrowafanbase,anditsubsequentlyreceivedmanyrequestsforrepublishing.Thebookisevenrumoredto
betheinspirationforthepopularDirtyHungarianPhrasebookskitfromMontyPythonsFlyingCircus.
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Thebookitselfisaguessinggameofintentionandphrasescontortedintheunorthodoxtranslationprocess.IfEnglishasSheIsSpokeistobe
believed,tradeoccupationsmightincludeCoffeeman,PorkshopKeeper,andChinaman.ThelistofaquaticlifenotedundertheheadingFishesand
ShellFishesfeatureswellknownseacreaturesliketheWolf,theHedgehog,andaSorteofFish.ThesectionentitledGamesisevenmoreopento
interpretation:thelistedgamesincludeMall,Pile,andKeel.(ThebookisoftenfalselyattributedtoJoseDaFonseca,apopularlinguistofthetime
period,butmanybelievethatCarolinolistedhimasacoauthortogivetheworkmorecredibility.)
ThetitlepageforEnglishAsSheisSpoke.(Photo:PublicDomain)
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Thereisalsoasectionfeaturingpotentialdialoguesforeverydaysituations,suchasvisitingthedentist,purchasingabook,orvisitingasickfamily
member.Ofcourse,theconversationsaremostlyincomprehensible,butthechapterclosesonanironichighnote,inthisdiscussionaboutlearninga
language:
DospeakFrenchalwais?
Sometimes:thoughIflayityet.
Youjest,youdoesexpressyouselfverywell.
PerhapsthemostnotorioussectionofthebookisanaptlynamedchapterentitledIdiotismsandProverbs,whichagainfeaturesphrasesthatcareen
betweenbarelyunderstandableandcompletelynonsensical.ExamplesofCarolinostwicetranslatedproverbsinclude:nothingsomemoney,nothing
ofSwissfriendshipofachildiswaterintoabaskettakeoutthelivecoalswiththehandofthecatandsimplytofattenthefoot.
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Thetranslationsofidiomsandproverbs.(Photo:PublicDomain)
Areviewofthebafflingphrasebookinan1860volumeofHarvardMagazineopenswithadisclaimerstatingthatthemagazineisnotintendingto
insultreadersintelligencebypublishingsuchexcerpts,assertingthattheyspeakforthemselves.TheworkinquestionpurportstobeaNew
GuidetoConversationinthePortugueseandEnglishTongues,thereviewerdrylycomments,butNoone,Ithink,willfeeldisposedtoquestionits
titletonovelty.
EnglishasSheIsSpokeisacharmingbookcreatedbyagentlemanwhoonlywantedtohelpteachtheEnglishlanguagetohispeers,butinstead
createdaliterarydisasterthatbecamealinguisticphenomenon.Thebookhasbeenrepublishedanumberoftimes,themostrecenteditionprintedin
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2004byCollinsLibrary.(Ascanofan1884pressingcanbeviewedforfreeatthePublicDomainReview.)Sadly,thiswasPedroCarolinosonly
publishedwork,althoughitisanaccidentalpieceoftranscendentartwithalegacythathaslastedcenturies.
OnecouldponderwhyCarolinotookonthetaskofcreatingaphrasebookinalanguagehedidnotspeak,butsometimesitisbetternottolookagift
horseinthemouthorasCarolinosays,ahorsebaareddontlookhimthetooth.
#comedy#language#books#literature
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