Fall River Store’s Halloween Decoration Causes Stir with Portuguese Speakers

Halloween decorations are everywhere, including in one Fall River store where customers are taking a second look at one piece in particular.

Fall River's Thomas Cameron found the pictured decoration at a local store. Now, in most places people would look at that and think it says, "Put a Spell on You."

However, because we live on the SouthCoast and many of us are of Portuguese descent, we read this a little differently.

At first glance, it looks like "Puta" instead of "Put a." And the former is Portuguese slang for, well, look it up if you'd like. But most sensible people probably wouldn't want to be labeled one.

Admit it. When you first saw this post, you read it as any Portuguese person would. Then, you realized what the sign actually meant.

Some people on TikTok and on Facebook thought it was just a Portuguese-themed Halloween decoration. I have a feeling this wasn't done on purpose, though.

The fix is as simple as adding a space between the "T" and the "A." Should someone tell them?

Maybe we just keep it a little SouthCoast secret and let them continue to manufacture these signs, hoping no one takes offense.

This got me thinking, though: What other items have we come across that may be offensive in Portuguese but otherwise not a big deal? I may have to hit up the Portuguese Kids on this one.

Let's just say if my Portuguese grandmother saw this sign, she would not be happy. I remember seeing that word on many a high school bathroom stall.

So, were you one of the thousands of people that saw this and read it wrong?  Being a Medeiros, I definitely did.