Cerveja
Brazilian Beer Day is celebrated on June 5th, but on the first Friday in August in other countries around the world. A beer enthusiast would argue that any day is a good day to celebrate this six thousand year old beverage, but a language enthusiast would dig a little deeper and discover that that is not the only thing that differentiates Brazilian beer from beers in other countries, especially in Europe.
Another distinguishing factor is that it’s beer in English, bière in French, bier in German, and birra in Italian, but cerveja in Portuguese and cerveza in Spanish.
Most etymological explanations point to cerveja and cerveza originating from an old Gaelic word that in turn derived from the Latin “cervesia” or “servisia” meaning fermented. Cervesia probably came from Ceres, the Roman Goddess of Cereals or Harvest.
Bibere is Latin for “to drink” which coupled with cervesiam formed the expression “cervesiam bibere” meaning a fermented drink or beverage. So some languages probably adopted and adapted the first part of the expression for fermented, cervesiam, generating cerveja and cerveza, while others gave preference to bibere, to drink, producing beer, bière, bier and birra.
Brazil consumed 14 billion liters (almost 4 billion gallons) of beer in 2014, making it the world’s third largest consumer, behind the U.S. and China. A cerveja is by far the national favorite followed closely by its sister drink o chope, non-pasteurized draft beer.
Brazilians drink cerveja or a loura, the blond (because of the color) estupidamente gelada, literally stupidily cold and say saúde, to your health or tchim tchim, chin-chin or cheers when lifting a glass.
Attention though with how many canecas, mugs you drink so you don’t get bebado, drunk and wake up com uma ressaca, with a hangover.
And, no matter the etymology of the word for the oldest fermented beverage in the world or the date when it’s celebrated, just remember: beba responsavelmente, drink responsibly and se beber, não dirija, never drink and drive.