
The Portuguese word that’s associated with fado is saudade, one of those more-or-less untranslatable words that means – inexactly – something like longing, one of those emotions that resonates through cultures where people have migrated through choice or through necessity. From Fado: Singing the Blues by Andrew Curry[/caption]
]]>As an American, I’ve been inculcated with the importance of being happy – or at least pretending to be happy – at all costs. It’s an ethos epitomized by the smiley face emoji, which is said to have been invented in the US in 1963, and empty expressions like “have a nice day”. In Portugal, no one tells you to have a nice day. No one particularly cares if you have a nice day, because chances are they’re not having a nice day either. If you ask a Portuguese person how they’re doing, the most enthusiastic reply you can expect is mais ou menos (so so). Read Eric Weiner’s The Country That Loves To Be Sad on BBC