{"id":2870,"date":"2026-08-25T22:31:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/?p=2870"},"modified":"2026-08-25T22:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:32:54","slug":"bora-bater-uma-bolinha-diminutives-in-brazilian-portuguese-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/2026\/08\/25\/bora-bater-uma-bolinha-diminutives-in-brazilian-portuguese-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"BORA BATER UMA BOLINHA? DIMINUTIVES IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE \u2013 PART 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Marsel de Souza<\/strong>
Revision: Lynnea Hansen<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Zinho, whose nickname eventually became simply the diminutive suffix itself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the first article in this series about diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese, I argued that diminutives in Brazil can be used to look down on people and things. As Brazil\u2019s bitter defeat in the 2026 FIFA World Cup recedes into the distance, an aggrieved fan could draw inspiration from the article to label the Brazilian national team a \u201ctiminho de v\u00e1rzea<\/em>\u201d or a \u201ctimeco de quinta categoria<\/em>\u201d(*). But enough ranting about soccer!<\/p>\n

As a quick refresher: \u201c(z)inho\/a<\/em>\u201d are our go-to diminutive suffixes in Portuguese, and \u201ceco\/a<\/em>\u201d can do the trick as well. There are plenty of other suffixes, which I hope to examine in minute detail in due course.<\/p>\n

Still on the soccer pitch<\/em><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s look at a very Brazilian tendency: the use of diminutives in nicknames. Brazilian soccer teams are a great illustration of the country\u2019s love for nicknames that go small: chances are that any given team in Brazil will feature at least one player with an –inho<\/em> or -zinho<\/em> name, and the national squad abounds with examples that could trip up newcomers.<\/p>\n

Ever since the very first World Cup in 1930, there has been no shortage of players in the miniature league of Sele\u00e7\u00e3o Canarinho<\/em> (\u201cLittle Canary Squad,\u201d after their bright yellow jersey\u2026 with a diminutive, of course). In 1970, Jairzinho (Jair Ventura Filho) played alongside the legendary Pel\u00e9 and helped Brazil lift its third World Cup. The mythical 1982 squad included Luizinho (Luiz Carlos Ferreira), Toninho Cerezo (a common nickname for Antonio being \u201cTony,\u201d now you understand the rationale behind \u201cToninho<\/em>\u201d), Serginho Chulapa (S\u00e9rgio Bernardino), and Zico (Arthur Antunes Coimbra). Arthur was first nicknamed \u201cArthurzinho,\u201d then \u201cArthurzico\u201d(**), and finally \u201cZico.\u201d Zico also goes by \u201cGalinho de Quintino<\/em>\u201d (Little Rooster from Quintino) \u2013 with an -inho<\/em>, of course.<\/p>\n

The squad that added the fourth star to the iconic Canarinho<\/em> jersey in 1994 included Jorginho (Jorge de Amorim Campos), Mazinho (Iomar do Nascimento), and Zinho (Crizam C\u00e9sar de Oliveira Filho). Jorginho is quite obvious, Mazinho will probably require a closer look, and the story behind Zinho is amusing. As a kid, Crizam was nicknamed \u201cCrizanzinho,\u201d but his younger sister struggled to pronounce it and simply called him \u201cZinho\u201d (no wonder it stuck \u2013 the original nickname was not particularly euphonious\u2026 and would certainly have soccer commentators gasping). So it was much more convenient to use the diminutive suffix as a nickname. Zinho could well be called \u201cMr. Diminutive\u201d by English-speaking commentators!<\/p>\n

A Tale of Two Ronaldinhos<\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Ronaldo Fen\u00f4meno and Ronaldinho Ga\u00facho.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in 1994, seventeen-year-old Ronaldo Lu\u00eds Naz\u00e1rio just cheered from the bench as Jorginho, Mazinho, Zinho, and their teammates played the beautiful game in the first World Cup hosted by the USA. In the tournaments that followed, Ronaldo went from the bench to the pitch and, guess what, he was nicknamed \u201cRonaldinho\u201d in no time. The reason was that there was a defender who also went by the name of Ronaldo. And the defender became \u201cRonald\u00e3o\u201d (the augmentative!).<\/p>\n

Confused? Please bear with me\u2014there is more! Ronaldo de Assis Moreira came along in the late 1990s and started calling himself \u201cRonaldinho Ga\u00facho\u201d as a tribute to his fellow player(***). Before a crowd of Ronaldinhos came along, the original Ronaldinho was re-dubbed \u201cRonaldo Fen\u00f4meno,\u201d thanks to the Italian media, which started calling him \u201cIl Fenomeno<\/em>\u201d after he began dazzling Inter Milan fans with his talent. I guess Carnival revelers who danced to the ax\u00e9<\/em> anthem \u201cCabelo raspadinho, estilo Ronaldinho<\/em>\u201d (\u201cclose-cropped hair, Ronaldinho style\u201d) in the 1990s still call him \u201cRonaldinho Fen\u00f4meno.\u201d Ronaldinho Ga\u00facho played the 2002 World Cup alongside Juninho Paulista, who has one of the cutest diminutives of them all. If being a \u201cJunior\u201d is not small enough, then you just shrink it further with \u201cJuninho<\/em>\u201d!<\/p>\n

Did you think I would end this section and leave gigantic Pel\u00e9 out of The League of Extra-Tiny Gentlemen? But there\u2019s no Pelezinho<\/em>, you may protest. Yes, there is! Pelezinho<\/em> was a comic-book character created by Mauricio de Sousa(****) in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

From a joke to a jersey<\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, with his famous nickname displayed on his jersey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But for the most memorable diminutive in the 2026 World Cup, we need to shift away from massive Brazil to an inconspicuously minute Portuguese-speaking archipelago in the Atlantic. There you will find not a -zinho<\/em>, but a -zinha<\/em>: \u201cVozinha<\/em>,\u201d Cape Verde\u2019s goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

Josimar Jos\u00e9 \u00c9vora Dias was raised by his grandparents in Mindelo, a coastal city in Cape Verde. After school, he would play street soccer with other kids in the neighborhood. The youngest and smallest of the bunch, Josimar hated losing and would head home upset whenever things did not go his way. Just to wind him up, the other kids started teasing him for running back to his grandma after a defeat. They were soon throwing around the nickname \u201cVozinha<\/em>\u201d (\u201clittle granny\u201d). \u201cV\u00f3<\/em>\u201d is an affectionate, informal word for grandmother in Portuguese, short for \u201cav\u00f3<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, when Josimar moved to Angola to pursue his professional career, he encountered another goalkeeper called Josimar at his new club. Fortunately, it occurred to no one to call one of them them \u201cJosimarzinho\u201d\u2014just as awkward as Arthurzinho or Crizanzinho\u2014and having \u201cJosimar II\u201d on the back of his jersey was not an option. Then it dawned on him that everyone knew him as Vozinha<\/em> back home. So that is exactly the name that went on his jersey!<\/p>\n

The pint-sized boy nicknamed Vozinha<\/em> became world famous during Cape Verde\u2019s giant-defying World Cup debut, and his social media following skyrocketed from 50,000 to nearly 30 million as of this writing. I simply cannot think of another case where a derogatory nickname involving the diminutive in Portuguese went on to become an endearing nickname on such a colossal scale.<\/p>\n

I will stop here for now, as this article is getting quite grandinho<\/em>! I promise I\u2019ll be back very soon with a new chapter in this ever-growing Diminutive Saga.<\/p>\n

(*) To make sense of these insults, click here<\/a> to read the first article in the series.<\/p>\n

(**) -ico\/a<\/em> is another diminutive suffix. A burrico<\/em> is a small burro<\/em> (donkey); a namorico<\/em> (from namoro<\/em> = dating relationship) is a brief romance or a casual fling; and a veranico<\/em> (from ver\u00e3o<\/em> = summer) is an unseasonably warm spell.<\/p>\n

(***) He added \u201cGa\u00facho<\/em>\u201d simply because he is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil\u2019s southernmost state, which shares much of the gaucho culture with neighboring Argentina and Uruguay.<\/p>\n

(****) The same cartoonist who gave us Cebolinha in Monica\u2019s Gang and also Turma do Penadinho. Click here<\/a> to read about these characters in the second installment of this series.<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Marsel de Souza<\/h3>\n

Marsel de Souza is a full-time conference interpreter and translator based in Brasilia, Brazil. He holds a BA in Translation from the University of Brasilia and a certificate in advanced French studies from Alliance Fran\u00e7aise. Marsel regularly writes about translation, interpretation, multilingualism, and AI in T&I, including previous contributions to the PLD blog. Marsel is a certified member of the ATA (English into Portuguese) and a member of Abrates, AIIC, and APIC. He currently serves as the President of APIC.<\/p>\n

Marsel de Souza | LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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