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I am visiting Portugal and a note was posted on the door of the apartment I'm staying in. I'm having difficulty translating it, both because I don't know Portuguese and because it's in hand writing.

I believe it translates to something along the lines of: "Please don't drop something on my terrace"? But I'm not sure. I have no idea what that 5th word is.

Also I have been very quiet and respectful of my neighbours so I'm not sure what they would be referring to. Though, yesterday the apartment above me was making lots of noise (I think they had children visiting), which might have been the cause?

Image of the note: enter image description here

Thank you kindly for your assistance.

Ramon Melo
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devlop
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1 Answers1

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Your're quite right. The sentence reads:

Por favor não deitem beatas para o meu terraço.

The word you missed is beatas (plural), or singular, beata, which in Portugal, and in this case, means ‘cigarrete butt’, so:

Please don't drop cigarrete butts on my terrace.

Beata has other meanings―‘beatified woman’ (poorly known, in Portugal at least), or (very well known and derogatory) ‘excessively or outwardly pious woman’―but I’m pretty sure they did not mean that.

Jacinto
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    Ahh, makes sense. I don't smoke but I noticed a guy in the adjacent apartment was smoking out of his window (also above the terrace). Thanks a lot! – devlop Feb 28 '17 at 16:32
  • @devlop You're welcome. I've just added two other meaning of beata, but I'm pretty sure they're not relevant here. – Jacinto Feb 28 '17 at 16:40
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    LOL. No, I don't remember throwing any pious women on to their terrace recently. :P – devlop Feb 28 '17 at 16:44
  • Incidentally, Google translates beata as ‘goody’, related to ‘pious woman’, but wouldn’t be of much help even if you had deciphered the handwriting. – Jacinto Feb 28 '17 at 16:54
  • @devlop I've just added something to the title of your question, if you don't mind, to make it more useful to future visistors. – Jacinto Feb 28 '17 at 16:57
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    Please, be aware that this usage of beata is a Portuguese one. Never heard in Brazil someone call the butt of a cigarette as a beata. – gmauch Feb 28 '17 at 23:35
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    I agree with @gmauch. I've never heard anyone call a cigarette butt "baeta" on this side of the Atlantic. – Centaurus Mar 01 '17 at 00:41
  • Neither have I, but I loved it and I'll start using from now on. – Ramon Melo Mar 01 '17 at 02:46
  • @gmauch Thanks, I added a note. I had checked beata in Aulete, so I thought it would be known in Brazil too. Dear me, there are more names for cigarrete but in Portuguese than cigarrete brands. – Jacinto Mar 01 '17 at 08:11
  • @Jacinto Don't take our opinions as fact straight away, there are a lot of dialects in Brazil, and both Centaurus and I live in the same city. There could be a place where it has that meaning. That being said, Priberam does claim it's a Portuguese slang. I feel sad for admitting this, because it's a great metaphor: it's the part of the cigarette that remains pristine, even after the use. – Ramon Melo Mar 01 '17 at 14:34
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    Cotoco de cigarro no Brasil é bituca. Beata é pessoa muito religiosa que comparece mais do que o comum na igreja. – André Lyra Mar 01 '17 at 16:58
  • Why even mention Brazil? It's obvious it's Portugal, deitar ou atirar beatas no chão: throw or drop butts on the floor. The OP said it was Portugal and a simple search at site:.br versus site:.pt makes this obvious. The second meaning of beata is the same in both countries. Credo. :) – Lambie May 12 '19 at 19:33