Maneater

The first song I heard today was Maneater by Hall and Oates. It contains very dubious descriptions of women: ‘watch out boy she’ll chew you up.’ Funnily enough on a stroll around Baixa I later came across this lion statue in amongst a load of farming machinery. Lions are actual verifiable maneaters, not labelled as such due to the fragility of a group which still holds the vast majority of the world’s power and ability to chew things up according to its will.

Ilidio showed up at the apartment for my Portuguese lesson, announcing he was aflito por xixi (needing a wee). I then had the most thorough run-through that I expect to ever have on Portuguese terms for going for a Number 1.

I think I understood Ilídio’s explanations correctly that xixi is the most childlike of the terms for relieving oneself, that blokes (Ilídio’s word) would be expected to say mijar (piss) and that all are less formal and polite than urinar (urinate).

Now we know.