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carioca de café

English translation: Café Americano

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Portuguese term or phrase:carioca de café
English translation:Café Americano
Entered by: lexical

20:03 Nov 19, 2008
Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Cooking / Culinary / coffees
Portuguese term or phrase: carioca de café
If you're Portuguese, you'll know what this is - a black coffee diluted with boiling water. All I'm looking for is a reasonably convincing name in UK English that avoids terms like "thin black coffee" or "weak black coffee" (though that's perfectly fair to carioca).
lexical
Spain
Local time: 01:44
Café Americano
Explanation:
Yes, I know this is actually Spanish, but I have often seen this in coffee shops in England to describe espresso coffee diluted with hot water (I know the capital A is wrong in Spanish but that's how I've seen it here). But I think you'd have to ask for "black", not the Spanish "sólo").
They may call it something else in the USA for all I know.
Selected response from:

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:44
Grading comment
If you've seen this in UK coffee shops, Jack, it's good enough for me. I know americanos from here in Spain, but I hadn't expected it to be current in the UK - but then it's no longer the country I grew up in.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1do not translate
Katja van Hellemond
4Cafe Americano
Will Matter
3Café Americano
Jack Doughty


  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Café Americano


Explanation:
Yes, I know this is actually Spanish, but I have often seen this in coffee shops in England to describe espresso coffee diluted with hot water (I know the capital A is wrong in Spanish but that's how I've seen it here). But I think you'd have to ask for "black", not the Spanish "sólo").
They may call it something else in the USA for all I know.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:44
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
If you've seen this in UK coffee shops, Jack, it's good enough for me. I know americanos from here in Spain, but I hadn't expected it to be current in the UK - but then it's no longer the country I grew up in.
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Cafe Americano


Explanation:
I have no idea if the equivalent term exists in the UK or not but in the US this mixture (black coffee diluted with boiling water) is called a "Cafe Americano". HTH.

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Note added at 7 mins (2008-11-19 20:10:57 GMT)
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Look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americano_(coffee)

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Note added at 9 mins (2008-11-19 20:12:20 GMT)
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Notice that the spelling and punctuation varies but it's the same drink and anyone who drinks coffee regularly is probably familiar with this term.

Will Matter
United States
Local time: 16:44
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
do not translate


Explanation:
i've found several travel reviews in the UK and the Netherlands that use the term in Portuguese with a short explanation in brackets...

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Note added at 29 mins (2008-11-19 20:32:59 GMT) Post-grading
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very true...i live in the Algarve and can get terribly annoyed by the many English (and a few Dutch) residents - let alone tourists - who, after having spend significant amounts of time here still can't order a coffee in Portuguese....!

Katja van Hellemond
Portugal
Local time: 00:44
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
Notes to answerer
Asker: I have a lot of sympathy with that view, Katja, but I think it won't do for this client. Personally, I think any tourist who can't be bothered to learn the names of the 8-10 varieties of coffee in Portugal doesn't deserve to be served, but that's just me.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  rhandler
1 hr
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