Nelson Piquet’s comments about Lewis Hamilton are making waves: But how does a native speaker judge the three-time world champion’s choice of words?
When asked about the collision between Max Verstappen and the Briton at Silverstone in 2021, Piquet used the word “Neguinho” twice for Hamilton.
But what about the statements made by Piquet, whose daughter Kelly Piquet is in a relationship with Verstappen, who provides live commentary on all Grands Prix for major Brazilian radio station Radio Band News.
How Ramos, whose mother tongue is Portuguese, feels about the term “Neguinho”? “This term is not synonymous with ‘little negro’, but with ‘little black’,” Ramos clarifies.
The term “negro”, on the other hand, would be translated as “preto”, which simply means “black”, while “neguinho” (little black man) is the belittling form of “negro” (black man).
“So it’s the other way round, like in the German language,” says the Brazilian, who has lived in Vienna for many years and speaks very good German, referring to the fact that “Preto” is the stronger expression than “Negro”.
Nevertheless, Ramos assesses Piquet’s statement as clearly racist. “In context, Piquet’s ‘Neguinho’ is definitely meant pejoratively,” he says. “After all, he doesn’t call Max ‘Holandesinho’, which means Dutch, whereas with Hamilton he doesn’t use the name but defines it by the colour of his skin. “
