xente bafúa

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese gente befua, used by the Galician author Airas Nunes; from xente (“people”) and bafúa (“smelly; miserable, despicable”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛn.tɪ βaˈfu.ɐ]

Noun

xente bafúa m (plural xentes bafúas)

1. (idiomatic, derogatory, dated) miserable people, rabble

   Synonym: chusma

   • 1820, anonymous author, Tertulia na Quintana:

     tanpouco deixan entrar as Autoridàs á oir Misa na Capilla mayore e solo lle poñen os bancos xûnto as reixâs, como si fora xênte bafúa

     they would neither allow the [civil] authorities to hear mass at the main chapel, and they just put some benches by the gates, as if they were low people

   • 1867, Antonio de la Iglesia, Poesías:

     qu'é moitiña honra dinidá e fachenda poder un homiño ben erguida'a testa decir en bo torgo: Miña terra é esta. Só por unha chisca d'homildade fea que non vén ó caso porque x'é baixeza de xente bafúa e gafa ralea indina de entr'homes ergué-la cabeza algús galleguiños d'almiña pequena cativa, mingoada, coa boca aberta ó tempo que scoitan cen linguas alleas e danlle mil laudes sin valer corenta enzarran a súa no fondo da terra pensando que dina non é como aquelas

     because it's large honour, dignity and pride, for a common man, his head high, to say with clear voice: This is my land. Just for a little bit of ugly humbleness —that is beside the point, because it is but lowness typical of despicable people, leprous kind, unfit for rising the head among men— some Galicians having a small, worthless, diminished soul, their mouth open at the same time that they hear a hundred foreign tongues, which they give a thousand praises whilst not worthing forty, they bury their language under the ground thinking that is not as worthy as theirs

Related terms

• bafo
• bafún

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “befua”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “befua”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bafúa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “bafúa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega