The Portuguese alphabet doesn’t have a "k", "w" or "y." These letters are only used in "foreign" words. The accents used in Portuguese are the acute accent (Áá, Éé, Íí, Óó, Úú), the circumflex (Ââ, Êê, Ôô) and the tilde (Ãã, Õõ). Portuguese also has a "ç" character (C with a cedilla).

Colours inevitably spice up our day-to-day vocabulary with a host of phrases that nonetheless need some explanation either with their origin or their meaning such as:

a coisa está preta! the situation is hard to deal with (literally, the thing is black)

ficar verde de ciúme/inveja to be very jealous (literally, to become green of jealousy)

ficar verde de raiva to become furious (literally, to become green with rage)

me ferrei de verde e amarelo! I'm in trouble (literally, I'm screwed in green and yellow!)

sorriso amarelo a forced, insincere smile (literally, a yellow smile)

está tudo azul everything is good with me (literally, everything is blue)

imprensa marrom the disreputable / tabloid press (literally, the brown press)

ficar roxo de raiva to become enraged (literally, to turn purple with rage)

revistas cor-de-rosa celebrity / gossip magazines (literally, pink magazines)

fiquei bege! I'm astonished (literally, I'm beige!)

amizade colorida a friendship which includes sex without commitment (literally, a coloured friendship)

é cor de burro quando foge a colour which is hard to describe (literally, it's the colour of a donkey on the run)