Osias wrote:But what about calling an old car a "lata velha'?
I think that's just a reference to how the car looks like a rusted old can, rather than implying the car is made of a material called "can".
dEhiN wrote:Rí.na.dTeangacha wrote:Yes, a tin can is uma lata.
It seems to me that bairro de lata might come from the idea of a slum being akin to a walled neighbourhood, so similarity to feeling like inside a can?
I guess so. I presumed it was on account of all the corrugated iron-roofed houses making it look like it was a neighbourhood made of "can" (or, I suppose I thought "lata" meant a material such as tin that cans used to be made out of). Your explanation makes more sense now though.
Anyway, I just learned this one:
não entender bulufas - to not understand anything (colloquial)