Portuguese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Uncertain. Likely from Old Tupi kukuîa (sucessive fall, decay), from kukuî (to keep falling), reduplication of kuî (to fall, detach) plus -a (nominalizing suffix), from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *kúy (fall [from something, inanimate]).[1] Or perhaps from the name of the Cacuia cemitery in Governador Island, Rio de Janeiro, in its turn from Old Tupi ka'a (scrubland, forest), from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *kaʔá, with the same meaning, plus kuî.[2]

Verb

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ir para a cucuia (first-person singular present vou para a cucuia, first-person singular preterite fui para a cucuia, past participle ido para a cucuia)(Brazil, idiomatic)

  1. to be forgotten, abandoned, discontinued or fail to produce results or consequences
    Synonyms: ir para o brejo, ir para o beleléu
    O projeto foi para a cucuia.
    The project has failed.
  2. to die
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:morrer

Conjugation

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References

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  1. ^ Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “kuî”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: the classical indigenous language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 239, column 2
  2. ^ Carolina Pompeo (2015 June 6) “Saiba a origem e o significado de ditados e expressões”, in Gazeta do Povo[1], Curitiba: Gazeta do Povo S.A., archived from the original on 2023-06-09

Further reading

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