I was looking up the meaning of the #Brazilian #Portuguese idiom âmas que nadaâ, as heard in the #SergioMendes song
In the song, the context is like âwhatever! Get out of my way, let me pass, because the samba is animated; what I want is to dance the sambaâ
I found this informative link about the song and its composer #JorgeBen. He knew a guitarist named Rosinha who said the phrase all the time, so he wrote it into the song:
https://www.thebestofbrazil.info/specialfeatures3.html
That site makes it sound like a playfully dismissive phrase, and translates it as âOh, come on now!â, âGet off it!â or âPuh-leeze!â
Genius translates it as âWhat the hellâ
Someone on Quora said it was a way to change the subject, like âForget about it!â
A Quora bot called it âan emphatic interjection meaning roughly âno way,â âcome on,â âdon't be silly,â or ânot at all,â depending on context. It often downplays or rejects what was just said, expresses surprise, or signals dismissal.â
In Australia we might say, âCome off it!â, âGet ya hand off it!â, âYeah RIGHT!â, âGet faaarked!â or even (my favourite) âRack off!â
Someone on Reddit said:
âIn the way that is written, means something like âjust nothingâ or âdon't mention itâ in an informal way of speaking, in a sense that someone was grateful for something and a person answered this with an informal âyou're welcomeâ.â
Which made me think⊠in Australia, could it also mean âno worries!â
But I donât think thatâs the context in this song