Brazil is one of those places where even when you’ve learned the language (or are learning, as is my case) there will always be some new expression that isn’t in your handy copy of “Everything You Need to Know About Brazilian Portuguese and Then Some.” Brazilian Portuguese is an immensely rich language with new phrases coming into the mainstream everyday. Multiplied by the fact that queer co-cultures create their own meanings and understandings… [Insert your deity here] have mercy! Today we’ll look at Cafuçú.

What does Cafuçú mean?

“Cafuçú” (pronounced: kah-foo-SOO) used in common Portuguese gay vernacular is a word that many queer Americans might understand as “trade”, or a masculine “straight-acting” and well-built man. My initial understanding of cafuçú is that of “sexy gardener” or “sexy pool boy” or “sexy construction worker who arrives conveniently when someone’s partner isn’t there for some knock-knock-nookums.” Turns out I wasn’t far off.

Raced, classed and othered, Cafuçú refers to Black-mixed margianlized cis men who typically work labor-intensive service jobs like construction workers, carpenters or mechanics and have little formal education but who are prized for their well-toned bodies. They may or may not be good-looking in the face.

In this candid convo-turned-podcast, I speak with my friend Felipe about the meaning and history of the phrase cafuçú and other Brazilian Portuguese words commonly used. As we were drinking prior, we are drunk during our convo. Lolz ensue. (Content warning: This is a candid conversation and I don’t call anything out in-convo.)

So that’s all she wrote (or podcasted)! If you have something to say, sound off in the comments section below or join the conversation on Twitter.

In addition to all that Filipe shared, we mentioned a song that I said I’d tag. A popular techno-brega band Banda UÓ has an ode dedicated to loving Cafuçu in the fitting song “I <3 Cafuçú.” The translated lyrics are below the audio video. I got the initial translation from Google and made the awkward syntax make sense for English listeners:

I Love cafusú
I Love cafusú

Since that day I denied his love
I’ve wanted to, ah, I wanted to [keep denying]
But it was so hard to say no to that body
I was shaking, ah, I was shaking

Tell me doctor (yeah) that issue (ahem)
Will there ever be some medicine to heal the heart?
Tell me doctor (yeah) that issue (ahem)
Will I ever be able to resist the charms of this nigga? [Yes, you read that right. But there’s a different context and way of usage in Brazil. In many context race is erased from its usage and it becomes synonymous with “dude”. In this context, while it is raced, it doesn’t carry the negative connotation for Brazilian listeners as it would in the US and Anglosphere.]