Word: malandro
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...colorful pantheon of Rio de Janeiro stereotypes, none is more beloved than the malandro. Brazilians like to believe that many of their Portuguese words defy direct translation, and in this case they are right. A malandro is, for want of a more succinct description, a hustler who survives by his wits and savvy, often fooling those richer or more powerful than himself, and usually skirting the law. He is a bohemian, a joker and a smartass. The word has been cropping up all over the sports pages of the local and international media in recent weeks, thanks to the efforts...
...Romario's quest for the symbolic 1,000th goal has been a lesson in malandragem, as the way of the malandro is known. There is no question he was the greatest goal scorer of his generation, a "creative, straightforward, genius, goal-scoring superstar," in the words of top sports columnist and former Pele World Cup-winning teammate Tostao. Wherever he played, he scored: at home in Brazil, with top European clubs such as Barcelona, and on the international stage, where his genius was crucial to his country's 1994 World Cup victory...
...there such simple amenities as running water, electric lights or garbage collection. Fortnight ago in Bogota, rats attacked a nine-month-old baby girl left alone on a pallet and nibbled her to death. The police rarely intervene. Brazil's favelas breed a notorious outlaw called the malandro-an all-purpose con man, pimp, thief and murderer. Of 5,000 country girls who emigrate to Santiago's slums each month, 500 end up in brothels...