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Portuguese · Exclamations & Reactions

Vixe!

VEE-shee · /ˈvi.ʃi/

Uh-oh! / Yikes! / Oh dear!

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"(clipped from 'Virgem' — Virgin Mary)"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

A trimmed invocation of the Virgin ("Vixe Maria"), now a mild "yikes" for when something's about to go wrong or already has. Iconic in Bahia and the Northeast. Gentle worry more than shock. Fully clean — a host mom classic.

Heard in the wild

Vixe, esqueci que hoje é feriado, tá tudo fechado.

Yikes, I forgot it's a holiday, everything's closed.

Where it lands

Brazil, especially the Northeast (Bahia).

Quick answers

What does "Vixe!" mean?
In Portuguese, "Vixe!" means "Uh-oh! / Yikes! / Oh dear!". Literally it's "(clipped from 'Virgem' — Virgin Mary)". A trimmed invocation of the Virgin ("Vixe Maria"), now a mild "yikes" for when something's about to go wrong or already has. Iconic in Bahia and the Northeast. Gentle worry more than shock. Fully clean — a host mom classic.
Is "Vixe!" 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 "Vixe!"?
Say it "VEE-shee" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈvi.ʃi.

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' Nossa! NOH-sah Oh my! / Wow! / Geez! 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".

how to say "Unbelievable" →

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