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'7-1 Wasn't Enough': World Cup Loss Enters Brazilian Lexicon Ahead Of Olympics

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

NPR's Melissa Block is also in Rio where she's picked up a handy bit of Brazilian slang.

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE: It's a phrase spun out of an infamous Brazilian defeat. Two years ago, Brazil's men's national soccer team was playing Germany in the World Cup semi-finals. Brazil was hosting the cup.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: El goal, goal, goal, (speaking Portuguese).

BLOCK: Final score - Germany seven, Brazil one. Brazil's team was left weeping on the field. It was national humiliation on an epic scale.

RENATO DE ALEXANDRINO: I don't know why you're trying to remember that actually, but...

BLOCK: Sports reporter Renato de Alexandrino with O Globo told me the phrase that's entered the lexicon.

DE ALEXANDRINO: (Speaking Portuguese). Seven-one wasn't enough.

BLOCK: In other words, when things are bad - say, the Olympic arenas aren't finished or the athletes village is a mess - 7-1 wasn't enough.

DE ALEXANDRINO: Because the Brazilians have a good sense of humor, so we make fun of our tragedies.

BLOCK: Melissa Block, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.