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What does “besteira” mean in Portuguese?

Besteira means silly or unimportant stuff. Falar besteira is talking nonsense, and é besteira means “it’s nothing, don’t worry.” Fazer besteira depends on the situation. Between friends it’s goofing around. After a mistake, fiz besteira means “I messed up.” You’ll hear it all the time in Brazil. In Portugal, people often say disparate instead.

The couple here explain what keeps them together: a gente dá risada, faz besteira, passeia, viaja (“we laugh, fool around, go out, travel”). That’s the friendly meaning, two people being silly together. The word comes from besta (“beast, dumb animal”), which is why que besteira! can also sound a bit dismissive.