What does “bica” mean in Portuguese?

In Brazil, bica is slang for a hard, straight kick, so tomar uma bica is “to take a kick.” In Lisbon, uma bica is a small espresso, the default coffee order at a café counter. Order uma bica in Rio and you get a puzzled look; tell someone in Lisbon you took one and they will picture coffee, not a fight.

The shared root is bica as a spout or tap, still used in Brazil for running water, água da bica. In Lisbon the coffee name is often linked to the machine’s spout, and a popular story turns it into an acronym, Beba Isto Com Açúcar, “drink this with sugar.” In the clip a fighter remembers facing Mirko Cro Cop, whose left kick could break a rib: se eu errasse, eu ia tomar uma bica daquelas poderosas, “if I slipped up, I’d take one of those huge kicks.”