Brazil has no doorbells. Shouting the name of an occupant works just fine. This was not a problem for me in Mexico. My neighborhood was quiet in Mexico.
Within earshot of my front door right now a man is fixing his car accompanied by samba. His speakers are blown, but that's no reason to turn down the volume. There are two ongoing soccer games, three gossiping circles, a crowing rooster, two barking dogs, two construction projects, and a tree being cut down.
Also, I have the hardest name in the world.
Cory.
The open 'O' followed by an American 'R' delivers a one-two knockout punch to even the most tenacious tongue. Trying to get the correct "o" they loudly cycle through vowels like a tone deaf drunkard attempting to find a pitch.
The 'r' is significantly less confident. Confidence is a significant source of volume.
Exhausted from the strain, no one ever makes it all the way to the simply 'y' at the end of my name. This final 'y' only occurs as an afterthought, and is filled with disappointment and defeat.
The best case scenario sounds something like "qweiaAAwd-derrr... eh". So from my apartment all I hear is "waa" or sometimes "woa". This might have worked in Mexico. My neighborhood was quiet in Mexico.
So I guess someone named "Roger" would never hear his name spoken in Sao Paolo? Hm-m. What's Portuguese for "Bob"?
ReplyDelete"Roger" would sound like "Hojer" with the last 'r' being an alveolar flap. "Bob" is "Hoberch", again with the alveolar flap.
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