"Biqueira" in Faria Lima: see how neologism dominated the Portuguese language
The dismantling of a drug sales point by the Civil Police in the region of Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, this Tuesday (16), reinforced the consolidation of the term "biqueira" in urban contexts.
The action, called Operation Gladiator, identified the sale of narcotics in a residential condominium in one of the most valued areas of the capital of São Paulo, resulting in the arrest of two suspects.
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The evolution of semantic neologism
The use of the word to designate trafficking locations is what linguistics calls semantic neologism. It is the attribution of a new meaning to an already existing word.
A study produced by the University of São Paulo concluded that originally, records from the 14th century associate the term "Toe" with the tip of shoes or ends of objects.
The transition to the vocabulary of crime occurred in the 1990s, with roots in the outskirts of São Paulo. The term was initially disseminated by Rap and Hip Hop culture, as in lyrics by the band Facção Central from 1999, and gradually migrated to the general public with the expansion of the internet.
Research indicates that 59% of occurrences of the term in Brazilian Portuguese refer to the drug trade.
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From crime to literature
According to the report from the 15th Police District (Itaim Bibi), monitoring of the location in Faria Lima included aerial images that proved the movement of users.
The use of "biqueira" in official bulletins and in the news media to describe occurrences in financial centers demonstrates how the communities' vocabulary crossed geographic barriers.
This trajectory reveals a dynamic language, where the base meaning, the "beak", remains in use while new meanings meet contemporary sociocultural needs.
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Source: CNN