If you’re from Póvoa, you read the text on the back of the Ala-Arriba t-shirt without stopping, because you recognise every word. If you’re not, you read it and end up with questions. This is the dictionary for those questions, with the words and expressions from the print, and a few more.
A language of their own
The poveiros (the people of Póvoa) have always spoken a language of their own. In the 1930s, the ethnologist António dos Santos Graça (1882–1956) recorded it in his book O Poveiro (1932), with a vocabulary of words that only those who lived from fishing and the sea understood. For example: abinhar, which means to twist the thread of the nets; adornar, to tilt the boat to one side; a caça, the set of nets with which the boat goes out to sea; and acadimar, to submit oneself to work. Even their writing was a code of its own, the siglas poveiras.
Identity
Poveiro / poveira
Someone who is from Póvoa de Varzim, or a fisherman from Póvoa. Also called povoense. “Poveira” is also the name of a type of boat used by the city’s fishermen: the Lancha Poveira.
Poveirinhos pela graça de Deus
One of the most affectionate expressions of Poveiro identity (roughly, “Little poveiros by the grace of God”). According to tradition, it comes from a voyage of King Luís I who, from a ship near the coast, saw a lancha poveira. It is linked to the expression Reino da Póvoa (the Kingdom of Póvoa), the way poveiros speak of their land as a world apart.
Raça Poveira
Today it is mainly an expression of grit and courage, widely used in football and to describe “a poveiro through and through”. It has a history: in the 19th century, writers such as Ramalho Ortigão (in As Praias de Portugal, 1876) described the Poveiro fisherman as a “race” apart from the rest of the Portuguese coast, and the fishermen themselves came to believe it. The idea of “race” has no scientific basis, and what remained was the pride.
4490
Póvoa’s postcode. If you emigrated and still know it by heart, you understand what this means.
Football
Alvinegro, Lobos do Mar and 1915
These are nicknames of Varzim Sport Club, the city’s club, whose colours are black and white. “Lobos do Mar” (Sea Wolves) is also a nickname of the club, and 1915 is the year it was founded, on 25 December. Its supporters are called varzinistas.
Sea and community
Lancha poveira and “Fé em Deus”
The lancha poveira is the traditional boat of Póvoa’s fishermen. Fé em Deus (Faith in God) is the name of one of them, rebuilt by the Municipal Museum. You can read more in Faith and the sea: São Pedro.
Sigla
The “signature” of a Poveiro family, a symbol used to mark boats, nets and objects, which worked like a coat of arms. There is a whole article on siglas poveiras.
Tricana
The Poveiro girl in showy dress, with shawl, apron and high-heeled slippers. Discover the story of the tricanas.
Bairro and rusga
The six traditional neighbourhoods (Belém, Matriz, Mariadeira, Norte, Regufe and Sul) compete in the São Pedro festivities, and each has its own rusga, a parade with choreographies and songs. You can read more in São Pedro.
Cego do Maio
The fisherman and lifeguard who is the great Poveiro hero. Read his story.
Poveiro talk
‘Tchó’, ‘Que dizes?’
The accent and way of speaking in Póvoa are unique and unrepeatable, and “Tchó” is one of its most recognisable trademarks. Not every poveiro says it, but everybody recognises it, because it is an expression you hear all over the city. It is associated with the typical slang of Caxinas, the neighbouring fishing community in Vila do Conde, and is said to come from “cachopa”, the word for a girl in Northern Portuguese. It can be preceded by a classic “Ai!” and followed by a “Pá” and/or a “Que dizes?” (roughly, “what do you say?”).
Why all of this is on the Ala-Arriba t-shirt
080AYA’s Ala-Arriba collection is a collection that celebrates the strength of the Poveiro community, and a community recognises itself through its words. The text on the back of the t-shirt is a small affectionate dictionary: if you’re from Póvoa, you read it like a conversation at home, and if you’re not, you’ll want to ask.