“pellet‘, the nickname of the legendary Brazilian footballer who died in December, is one of 167,000 words in the dictionary of common names for Portuguese and 265 million speakers worldwide. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, considered by many to be the best soccer player of all time, who died on December 29 at the age of 82, is colloquially used in Brazil as a synonym for excellence.
In France, the popular expression for excellence is usually “Mozart”. In Michaelis’ dictionary of the Portuguese language, “pelé” (without a capital letter) is synonymous with “exceptional, incomparable, unique”. Its definition is: “something or someone out of the ordinary, something or someone because of its quality, value or superiority that cannot be equated with anything or anyone, such as Pele, nicknamed Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the best athlete on Absolutely,” reads the online version of the dictionary. Michaelis also gives some examples of its use: “He’s the basketball hero,” “It’s Pele the Brazilian drama,” “He’s the medicine man.”
The Brazilian Academy of Literature, which governs the Portuguese language in Brazil, where 215 million Portuguese speakers live, did not introduce the word “Pele” in its digital version. This addition to the dictionary is the result of a joint campaign launched by the Pele Foundation on April 14, in partnership with Santos, the club for which the world champions shone three times (1958, 1962, 1970) from 1956 to 1974, and Sportv. subsidiary of the Globo Group, the largest media conglomerate in the country.
Four months after his death, the eternal player No. 10 for Santos and Salçao is still the subject of honours, such as a minute’s silence before all matches of the Brazilian championship and international South American competitions such as the Copa Libertadores or the Copa Libertadores. Cuba Sudamericana.
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