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What is the origin of the addition to the Happy Birthday song (Parabéns pra você), which goes like this

É pique! É pique! É pique, é pique, é pique!
É hora! É hora! É hora, é hora, é hora!
Ra-tim-bum!
[nome] [nome] [nome] ...

and what do "pique" and "ra-tim-bum" mean or stand for?

Earthliŋ
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1 Answers1

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All the references come from the same place, and are from about the 1930's.

"É pique, é pique..." is a reference to an university student named Ubirajara Martins, who always had with himself a little scissor to trim his beard and mustache. Because of the sound of the trimming, people greeted him as "pic-pic".

"É hora, é hora..." is a reference to some students who always went out drinking, but had to wait half an hour for the beer to get cold, on some ice bars. When the time came, they cheered "é meia hora, é hora", which translates as "it's half an hour, it's hour".

"Rá-tim-bum" is a reference to an indian guru (or something like this), named Timbum, who cativated the students with the sonority of his name.

Source and more details: «USP 70 — O Brasil que as arcadas vislumbraram», Pesquisa FAPESP 102, Agosto de 2004, p. 57.

Jacinto
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Ivo Terek
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    I've seen other explanations saying rá-tim-bum is imitating the sound of musical instruments. (E.g. here.) – Earthliŋ Jul 15 '15 at 10:25
  • Our sources agree in a lot of things and both refer to the FAPESP magazine (which is very well conceited). In the page I linked in my answer, they also say that according to the New Frontier Etimologic Dictionary of the Portuguese Language, "rá-tim-bum" is an onomatopéia (I don't know how to translate that, sorry - it is essentialy a word that represent a sound), for the sound make in the end of theater concerts, for example, with musical instruments, as you said. It wouldn't be a surprising coincidence if the indian guru used such instruments - all the more reason the word stayed. – Ivo Terek Jul 15 '15 at 16:11
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    @IvoTerek in English, it's onomatopoeia. – ANeves Jul 27 '15 at 13:00
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    That link doesn't work anymore. In any case, this sounds more like a "just-so" story than a true origin. All 3 phrases already make some sense as simple references to the fact that one is at a birthday party where the cake will soon be cut and shared. – Dan Getz Oct 14 '15 at 13:51
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    The link didn't work anymore. I've linked to the original article. – Jacinto Feb 23 '16 at 00:26
  • Alguém pode traduzir a explicação dessa resposta ? Achei muito interessante, nós brasileiros cantamos muito! – David Feb 24 '16 at 00:57
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    https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parab%C3%A9ns_a_Voc%C3%AA – Eduardo Mar 04 '16 at 01:16