Need allergy card translation in European Portuguese, please

November 1, 2019 2:20 AM

Unexpected trip to Lisbon and I need to have the following to present at restaurants: Allergy Alert I cannot eat any food which contains: Fish Sesame Lentils Peanuts Any kind of nut I would be very grateful for help with this, especially that last phrase. Thank you so much!
posted by uans to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Best answer: I found this article about someone with a nut allergies travelling to Portugal, which linked to this translation document.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:30 AM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have used these before, but they appear to only have one kind of Portuguese - and I don't know how different Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese are.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:22 AM on November 1, 2019

Response by poster: Thank you so much, lost-lettuce. This is exactly what I needed
posted by uans at 10:38 AM on November 1, 2019

Google translate says the last line should be "Qualquer tipo de porca".

That's the wrong kind of nut, the not for eating but for screwing kind. Porca actually means pig!

It should be "Qualquer tipo de nozes".
posted by vivzan at 11:05 AM on November 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

Also, for clarification, while "fruto seco" technically means tree nuts, I think people might mishear or misread it as dried fruit, so I'd avoid using that if you want to eliminate all nuts.
posted by vivzan at 11:09 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: as a matter of safety i have to comment on this thread. i’m brasilian so my knowledge base is brasilian portuguese, but the languages are similar enough for cross-recognition. google translate will put your health at risk. always confirm with a native speaker when you need something like this.

=== My translation ===

Aviso: eu estou com alergia à:

Peixes
Sementes de sésamo*
Lentilhas
Amendoim, Nozes, e Castanhas

Muit@ obrigad@ pela ajuda

===

(Change @ -> “a” or “o”) depending on your pronouns (in brasil sometimes we use “e” or “x” for non-binary conjugations, but i don’t know portugal’s customs. i am trans fwiw)

Notes:

* in português do brasil “sesame seeds” is “gergelim”, in portugal i believe it’s “sementes de sésamo”.

* “fruto seco” may be “correct”, but i would interpret it to mean “dried fruits”. don’t use that phrase.

* “porca” is hardware, like nuts and bolts. it also means “prostitute” (“porco” is pig). don’t use that phrase.
posted by =d.b= at 12:13 PM on November 1, 2019 [5 favorites]

Mod note: Couple comments removed; web-based machine translation tools aren't a great basis for translation-related Asks most of the time just in general, but, as noted, especially for things with significant health stakes like this.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:33 PM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Just got this from my Portuguese wife:

Alergias: Alerta:
nao posso comer peixe, sementes de sesamo, Lentilhas, Amendoins ou qualquer outro tipo de frutos secos.

You can end by saying:

"ou qualquer comida que contenha algum destes ingredientes".

Which essentially means "I never / can't eat anything with these ingredients".

I can't put the proper puntuation marks with this keyboard, but if you write it down as is, anyone reading it should know what you mean!

If you have other questions feel free to memail...
posted by PlantGoddess at 5:53 PM on November 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you so much. I know from experience how inadequate Google can be in this situation
posted by uans at 5:48 AM on November 3, 2019