Shoot, now I want to go back to Brazil.

Thanks for the compliment, [MENTION=252435]RubeRad[/MENTION]!

About the expression, if you guys don't mind, let me try to break it word by word...

"Girinho" is a diminutive form of the word "Giro".
"Giro" is a 1st person of simple present of the verb "Girar".
"Girar" in english means "to spin".

Okay, so we find out that "Girinho" is something like "Little Spin".

"Só no" means something like "Just in a". Notice that the word "Just" have the same meaning as the Nike's slogan: Just Do It" which in portuguese means "Apenas faça").

"Só no Girinho" would be something like "Just in a Little Spin" (and it doesn't make any sense in english, I suppose!
So I thought that you might have some expression like this one...or not...

After a long time thinking on it, I think there's no way to translate it, nor literally neither with some idioms of yours...

Anyway, that's the dificulty (and the beauty, IMHO) of learn a foreing language, specially when you're trying to find an equivalent idiom in your mother tongue.

Sorry for this nonsense kind of discussion...LoL
It's not a philological forum...but I do appreciate try to understand (and be understood) better in english...I hope you don't mind...

Thanks guys!

Wow, How Nice! So you've been in Brazil [MENTION=25448]bigbenaugust[/MENTION]...
Did you like it? Have you learned a little bit of our portuguese?

Totally OT, but yes on all counts. :) Mrs. A and I spent a few days on Copacabana and in Rio and then Foz do Iguacu, and then a week in Fortaleza, where she has family. This was back in '09. I wish I could have crammed a Barraforte in a suitcase, just for fun... along with the suitcase full of brigadeiro and the one full of pao de queijo... what a trip, what great people, what a country.

I'm happy that you enjoyed your stay among us, Ben!

You all are most welcome to visit our big country, specially if you come here to bike travelling...there's a lot of wonderful places to visit.

ahahahaa!
Barra Forte is an ICON here! The most famous popular bicycle in Brazil. In 70's/80's, every worker would like to have one...

http://mtbbrasilia.com.br/wp-content...forte-luxo.jpg

I don't like that much "brigadeiros", but "Pão de Queijo" is fantastic! I definitely love it!

Ottimo.

I would ride a barraforte to work... ;)

https://goo.gl/photos/PmTbiuYrbVneVdKB7

These ones are "Barra Circular", manufactured by Monark.
Barra Forte was manufactured by Caloi.
Both were tough...hahahaha! ;)

Pretty sweet for commuting on flat roads...but please, do not try to use it there on San Francisco...hahahaha!

Cool, I love this kind of language stuff! Not word-for-word, but maybe concept-for-concept, we have the expression "It's just a walk in the park", which is often used sarcastically for something difficult. Is that how you mean, even though the current mountain is obviously a "big spin", you try to be encouraging by saying "it's just a little spin"?

It's very fun to me trying to define the feeling when we listen to the expression "Só no Girinho", in order to translate it to english.

The "little spin" is more like the actual movement that you perform using a short/light gear (bigger cog/smaller chainring): Your cadence go up and your effort gets a little easier.

So, the expression goes like this:
Come on, buddy..."just a little spin" and you're there!
(Vamos lá, amigo...só no girinho e você chega lá!"

or

Man...look at that slope...let's go "just in a little spin".
(Cara, olha aquela subida...vamos lá, Só no Girinho).

Try to keep in mind that a "little spin" isn't about the slope itself, but the actual movement that you perform, spinning in a light gear to beat the slope...think on it like a mantra: "Go easy spinning light and you'll make it.".

The challenge here is to make this "full of words" expression, into a little one...tricky isn't it? hahahha!

Thanks for all the attention on this matter. Means more than a fun conversation...means learning how to express myself better in a foreing language...
:);):thumb:

Cool. I think the English equivalent name for your bike is "Granny Gear" (and "Granny" and "Girinho" accidentally almost sound cognate!)

Hahahaha!
Quite interesting & funny! I liked it!


We also use the equivalent word for "Granny" (Vovozinha) to refer the smallest chainring.
It doesn't fit to the spirit of "Só no Girinho", but it's quite cute..."Granny Gear"...

About the cognate sound, it's because you say "Girinho" with your phonetic alphabet.

In portuguese, it has a different sound...the "G" sound more like "J", the "R" is completely different than the "R" on the word "ARM" and the "NHO" sounds like the spanish "Ñ" like in "señor".

Try listen on Google Translator "Só no jiriho" in english and then try "Só no Girinho" in portuguese. You'll see that is very different.

Idioms & Phonetics are the most difficult part of learn a foreing language...but is also the most exciting part!

As I said, Portuguese is a mystery to me! But I always love to learn. Although G and R may be pronounced differently nowadays, there is a reason they are the letters 'g' and 'r', because far back enough they came from latin, and indo-european roots before that. (I'm about 50 episodes into the History of English Podcast, if you like language, you might enjoy it too. Check out Ep. 5 on the letter 'C' (which is closely related to the letter 'G', as well as 'K'))

Cool!
Thanks for the link! I'll listen it for sure!

My commuter for the last few weeks
[IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...pszoplx1ca.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psmcvm62lx.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psqkkdya1a.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psiegh3p05.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psb3it0czo.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psf2jk1b83.jpg[/IMG]

I had a girlfriend from Brasil once - I spoke Spanish to her and she spoke Portuguese to me and we understood each other perfectly... other folks would stare at us though in bewilderment.

I hear her voice in my head when I read your phrases... nossa.

I have a friend from puerto rico, he went to Italy once and found that speaking spanish he was able to understand and be understood no problem.

Hi there, [MENTION=68015]DiabloScott[/MENTION]!
I hope your actual girlfriend doesn't follow this forum...ahahahaha!

Spanish and Portuguese has some "false friends", but indeed is very easy to understand one another.

This is a great commuter. To the unsuspecting passerby (or even fellow bicycle commuter), it's just another old ten-speed, but discerning viewers know that this is a special bike :thumb:

My sometimes-commuter, in full-on commuter mode.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/390/1...5b0574f0_b.jpg

Our commuter.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=457328

That's super awesome! Love the helmets, the running-board for the big kids, and the foot-pegs for the little one. I hope it's a long long time before the nanny state outlaws such a contraption for insufficient child restraint...

Express commuter...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...8spd%20(1).JPG

Thanks! Gosh, I hadn't even thought of that. They are pretty well restrained w/ the silver bars (both on the sides and the rear), but I have seen setups without those bars where the kids just hang on to nylon straps or a handlebar/ring mounted behind the seat post. I'd be too nervous w/ the little one for that, but w/ the bars I feel totally safe, though I do have a helmet mirror so I can hop on the curb if someone is approaching too closely.

By the way, we did notice that the oldest had his helmet on backwards and readjusted it before we took off. :)

Thank you! That is exactly why I love it.