desenrascanço

Portuguese

FWOTD – 20 September 2012

From desenrascar (“to disentangle”) +‎ -anço, from des- (“un-”) + enrascar (“to entangle”), from rasca (“dragnet”).

(Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /de.zẽ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.su/ [de.zẽ.hasˈkɐ̃.su], (natural pronunciation) /de.zĩ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.su/ [de.zĩ.hasˈkɐ̃.su], (careful pronunciation) /d͡ʒi.zẽ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.su/ [d͡ʒi.zẽ.hasˈkɐ̃.su], (natural pronunciation) /d͡ʒi.zĩ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.su/ [d͡ʒi.zĩ.hasˈkɐ̃.su]
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /de.zẽ.ʁaʃˈkɐ̃.su/ [de.zẽ.χaʃˈkɐ̃.su], (natural pronunciation) /de.zĩ.ʁaʃˈkɐ̃.su/ [de.zĩ.χaʃˈkɐ̃.su], (careful pronunciation) /d͡ʒi.zẽ.ʁaʃˈkɐ̃.su/ [d͡ʒi.zẽ.χaʃˈkɐ̃.su], (natural pronunciation) /d͡ʒi.zĩ.ʁaʃˈkɐ̃.su/ [d͡ʒi.zĩ.χaʃˈkɐ̃.su]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /de.zẽ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.so/ [de.zẽ.hasˈkɐ̃.so], (natural pronunciation) /de.zĩ.ʁasˈkɐ̃.so/ [de.zĩ.hasˈkɐ̃.so]

desenrascanço m (plural desenrascanços)

(Portugal) disentanglement (removal of complications or confusion)
- 1991, Cadernos de Ciências Sociais‎, Edições Afrontamento:
  São, de facto, muitos os jovens, depois os problemas de emprego, que justificam essa tentativa de desenrascanço».
  It is, in fact, many the youth who, after employment problems, justify this disentanglement attempt”.
(Portugal) hack, improvised solution; a “MacGyverism”
- 2007, José Cardoso, O Curandeiro Branco: e outras histórias, Escola Portuguesa de Moçambique, →ISBN, page 141:
  […] : apenas o “desenrascanço” habitual de varejar o conteúdo de cestos e alcofas, […]
  […] only the habitual “hack” of rummaging the content of baskets and shopping bags, […]
(uncountable, Portugal) the ability to find improvised solutions to problems
- originally 2001, Jorge Candeias, Os Pés e a Cabeça →ISBN, Lulu.com, page 30:
  O culpado é o ser português com todo o desenrascanço inerente a essa condição.
  The guilty one is the Portuguese being, with all the desenrascanço inherent to this condition.

Some Portuguese people regard desenrascanço as a key Portuguese virtue and a living part of their culture.

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