# Má língua/malandro



## malenky

Boa tarde

Há alguem que já ouviu estas frases? Quando andava de comboio ontem havia algumas idosas a falar e acho que ouvi-as, mas não tenho certeza (aínda estou a aprender). Faz me lembrar da expressão ´malin´ em francês no entanto não sei se é parecido.

Obrigado por a vossa ajuda


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## Vanda

Que frases???


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## almufadado

When people (mostly the stereotype of the house wife) tell each other about other people life's, mostly in a critic tone... one can say that :

A velhas passam a vida *na má lingua* / -> the old ladies go about talking about other people's life/gossiping  

Aquelas duas são umas coscuvilheiras -> those two are all about gossip 

In Brasil "coscuvilheira" (that engage in "coscuvilhice/coscuvilhices") is a "Fofoqueira" (that engage in "fofoca/fofocas") .

Not related,  "Malandro" is a wise guy, mostly related to foul play.


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## brainstorming

Também se pode dizer "má língua" em inglês como "malicious gossip".


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## XiaoRoel

Em galego usamos como sinónimo de _rexoubar_ '_falar mal de alguém_' o verbo *cuscubiñar*, bem _enxebre_ (lingüisticamente puro conforme á deriva da língua)


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## almufadado

brainstorming said:


> Também se pode dizer "má língua" em inglês como "malicious gossip".



Gossip is inheritly malicious, or am I wrong ?


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## Outsider

_Má-língua_ does not mean the same as _malin_. (The real cognate of _malin_ in Portuguese is _maligno_).

Instead, a _má-língua_, as others have explained, is someone who spreads mallicious gossip about others.


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## malenky

Outsider said:


> _Má-língua_ does not mean the same as _malin_. (The real cognate of _malin_ in Portuguese is _maligno_).
> 
> Instead, a _má-língua_, as others have explained, is someone who spreads mallicious gossip about others.



The French word _malin_ does not exclusively mean ´nasty/malignant´. It can also be used to mean _clever _or _smart_, but implying craftiness or sometimes; this sounds like what almufado says.


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## Outsider

malenky said:


> It can also be used to mean _clever _or _smart_, but implying craftiness or sometimes; this sounds like what almufado says.


Where? 
All I see in Almufadado's posts are references to gossip and gossiping. I agree with that: a _má-língua_ is someone who gossips telling bad things about others. I would not translate the word as "crafty".


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## XiaoRoel

> Originalmente publicado por *malenky*
> 
> 
> It can also be used to mean _clever _or _smart_, but implying craftiness or sometimes; this sounds like what almufado says.


_Craftiness_ em galego é *renartería* (do francês _renard_, 'raposo, golpe', entrou na língua pelo Caminho de Santiago na Idade Média) e _clever/smart_ *renarte*. Tamén usamos _raposería_ e _raposeiro_ no mesmo senso.


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## malenky

Outsider said:


> Where?
> All I see in Almufadado's posts are references to gossip and gossiping. I agree with that: a _má-língua_ is someone who gossips telling bad things about others. I would not translate the word as "crafty".



"Not related, "Malandro" is a wise guy, mostly related to foul play."

His first post


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## almufadado

Women often refer to men that engage in gossip that they are "malandros" not in the sense of crime but in the sense of "not doing it by the book !" because it's generally accepted (stereotypes included) that " man do not gossip".

That's the reason I included "malandros", but (my fault !) failed to clarify it as it was included in the original post.

Gossip-> má lingua (cuscuvelhice), may be viewed (or even be) as harmless but is a bad thing still. So it includes malice, and on the extreme foul play.

From all observations made in regards to this matter, now I am in doubt if the intention of the original poster is to find the sense of "foul language/malicious", which, by all means, is not a full deviation of "gossip->má lingua", yet, just used in a different context.

The paralell made by Xiaoroel is not without reason if related to "malandro" from whom one could say that "é esperto como uma raposa" -> "smart as a fox"(inspired in the Hans Christian Anderson's fables) . 

I meant "foul play" as a antonym of "fair play" because within a circle of men (and the constant competition) when one talks "bad" about another one there is always bad intentions in the social "game". The exponent of this kinds of behavior is "velhacaria" being the person "um velhaco/uma velhaca".

So to use "craftiness" to translate "malandrice" it would acquire the sense of "deviousness" (devious), of "deception" (deceptive) and not the general sense of "Skilled in". 

But them, how one would adjectivize that person ? craftsman ? crafty ?


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## nottheocean

Hi All,

I have a quick clarifying question.  Is "má-lingua" a noun meaning a person who is characterized as spreading malicious gossip, or a noun meaning "gossip" or "slander"?  Or is it used as both?  

Muito obrigada!


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## Outsider

It's both.


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## nottheocean

Muito obrigada, Outsider.  Mais uma pergunta:  qual seria o plural?  Seria más-linguas ou má-linguas?  Obrigado de novo!


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## Audie

Plural: "más-línguas".  

Quando alguém quer passar adiante uma fofoca sobre outrem, é muito comum dizer aqui no Brasil:

"_Dizem as más-línguas que Fulano..._"


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## nottheocean

Muito obrigada!


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