Filho chora porque policial pegou seu lanche

Does “lanche” mean lunch in Portuguese?

Lanche was borrowed straight from English “lunch,” then quietly changed jobs. It never means the midday meal — that is almoço. A lanche is a snack: the afternoon bite between lunch and dinner, or the sandwich a child takes to school. Order um lanche in Brazil and you will usually be handed a burger or a filled roll.

Learn the family together: lanchar (to have a snack), lanchinho (a little something), lancheira (lunchbox) and lanchonete, the corner snack bar — itself borrowed from American English “luncheonette.” Portugal uses lanche the same way for the late-afternoon snack, with merenda as its country cousin.