Brazilian Portuguese Slang Terms for Money

Here are some Portuguese slang terms for Brazilian money, with some examples of the words used in sentences.

grana – dinheiro (this is a very common slang word for money in Brazilian Portugues)

• Mãos ao alto, isso é um assalto, me passa a grana e o celulá! Hands up, this is a robbery, give me the money and the cellphone!

1 conto – 1 real (as you know, the plural of a real is “reais,” but the word conto is never pluralized, you might have 10 conto, 20 conto, 100 conto, etc.)

• Ele me deve cinquenta conto. – He owes me 50 reais.

pila – another word for a real, a Brazilian dollar. Like conto, this word doesn’t get pluralized.

• O ingresso para festa custou 10 pila. – the entrance to the party cost 10 reais.
• Ontem um mano me assaltou e levou 100 pila meu! – yesterday some guy robbed me and took 100 reais!

“tô duro!” – sem dinheiro (when you don’t have any money, “I’m broke!”)

micharia – a general term for money in a small quantity

“apertar o cinto” – to tighten one’s belt (to save money)

bolada – jackpot

“ganhar uma bolada” – to win a jackpot

bolão – sometimes this word just means “betting pool,” as men in brazil will often make when they are betting on soccer games. But a “bolão”  could also be referring to a communal way that people in brazil like to save money. How it works is, various friends or family members, usually five or six people, will “pool” their money. Each person who is participating in the bolão is required to put in the same amount, 1000 reals for example, and they keep depositing the same amount of money each month into the pool. And every month, one person gets all of the money. This goes on until everyone has had their turn at winning the jackpot.

Examples:

“vamos fazer um bolão do placar do jogo Brasil x Argentina?” – “let’s make a betting pool on the score of Brazil vs. Argentina”