Portuguese · The Basics
Nossa!
NOH-sah · /ˈnɔ.sa/
Oh my! / Wow! / Geez!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Our (short for Nossa Senhora — Our Lady)"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The most-used exclamation in Brazil, full stop. A clipped invocation of the Virgin Mary that lost its religion — now it just means "wow," for anything from a sunset to a horror story. Stretch it ("Nooossa") for extra drama. Absolutely clean; you'll say it fifty times your first day.
Heard in the wild
Nossa, que vista linda!
Wow, what a beautiful view!
Where it lands
Brazil (universal).
Quick answers
- What does "Nossa!" mean?
- In Portuguese, "Nossa!" means "Oh my! / Wow! / Geez!". Literally it's "Our (short for Nossa Senhora — Our Lady)". The most-used exclamation in Brazil, full stop. A clipped invocation of the Virgin Mary that lost its religion — now it just means "wow," for anything from a sunset to a horror story. Stretch it ("Nooossa") for extra drama. Absolutely clean; you'll say it fifty times your first day.
- Is "Nossa!" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Nossa!"?
- Say it "NOH-sah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈnɔ.sa.
Related in Portuguese
Porra! POH-hah Damn! / Fuck! — but mostly used as pure punctuation Caralho! kah-RAH-lyoo Fuck! / Hell! — exclamation and all-purpose intensifier Caramba! kah-RAHM-bah Wow! / Geez! / Holy cow! Cacete! kah-SEH-chee Damn! / Bloody hell! — also 'a ton' as 'pra cacete' Que sacanagem! sah-kah-NAH-zhang That's so unfair! / What a low blow! Que porra é essa? keh POH-hah eh EH-sah What the fuck is this? / What the hell is going on?
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Unbelievable".
- French Oh la vache ! Holy cow! / Wow! / Whoa!
- German Verdammt nochmal! God damn it! / For crying out loud!
- Greek έλα ρε Come on! / No way! / You're kidding — disbelief, protest, or delight depending on tone.
- Italian Minchia! Holy shit! / Wow! / Damn!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 헐 Whoa / no way / I can't even — the all-purpose stunned noise.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Russian Офигеть! Wow! / Holy cow! / No way!
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