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à sorrelfa

English translation: stealthily..on the sly

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Portuguese term or phrase:à sorrelfa
English translation: stealthily..on the sly
Entered by: airmailrpl

00:05 Oct 21, 2012
Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Historical Novel
Portuguese term or phrase: à sorrelfa
The speaker is a very old, amiable professor talking to an adult student who has taken a summer course on Italian writers from him in Venice, after the student discovers a crate filled with notes and unpublished short stories written by a well known Portuguese writer in his personal library.

**—Isso interessa-a? perguntou-me ele, **à sorrelfa,** levantando por momentos os olhos do Livro."

European Portuguese.

Muita Obrigada,

Barbara
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 01:18
stealthily..on the sly
Explanation:
à sorrelfa => stealthily..on the sly

Portuguese To English - sorrelfa
n. dissimulation, dissemblance, quality of being false or misleading, purposeful deception, hypocrisy, pretense
http://www.dictionarist.com/sorrelfa
Selected response from:

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 02:18
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1slyly
Mark Robertson
5Sotto voce
Nick Taylor
5stealthily..on the sly
airmailrpl
4to the serpent
Katarina Peters


  

Answers


31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
to the serpent


Explanation:
serpent - as in sly, conniving, devious person
(there are other nouns but nothing else occurred to me)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 38 mins (2012-10-21 00:43:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or:, snake, conniver

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 01:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 76
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
slyly


Explanation:
À sorrelfa - dissimuladamente, sorrateiramente, com intuito de enganar; Source: Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa; José Pedro Machado.

sly (sl)
adj. sli·er (slr) also sly·er, sli·est (slst) also sly·est
1. Clever or cunning, especially in the practice of deceit.
2. Stealthy or surreptitious: took a sly look at the letter on the table.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/slyly

Mark Robertson
Local time: 06:18
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 44

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Diana Coada (X)
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Diana
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Sotto voce


Explanation:
Sotto voce

Nick Taylor
Local time: 06:18
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 119

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  airmailrpl: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotto_voce Sotto voce means intentionally lowering one's voice for emphasis. The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, ...
1 day 32 mins
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1 day 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
stealthily..on the sly


Explanation:
à sorrelfa => stealthily..on the sly

Portuguese To English - sorrelfa
n. dissimulation, dissemblance, quality of being false or misleading, purposeful deception, hypocrisy, pretense
http://www.dictionarist.com/sorrelfa

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 02:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 80
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