RWA, Marciovp
Yes, decelerate and desacelera means the same in Portuguese and English.
Reduce acceleration, or quit accelerating, etc...
If the "request" is related to speed, we say "freia!" (Brake!), or "Breca" (old fashioned).
Many posts ago I said this, and it continues to puzzle me. "Desacelera" is related to accelerator. It is a quick way of saying "reduza o acelerador". Even in English the spelling is similar. "Decelerate" is a quick way of saying "reduce the accelerator".
The pilots were in a very bad situation already, do someone here thinks they would spend precious seconds with phrases, like "reduce engine number two throttle", when there is a single word that can be used?
So "desacelera" (decelerate), followed by the reply "não dá" still intrigues me. "Não dá" is not very easy to translate (and who did the first CVR translation didn't do a good job). "It can't" is wrong (bad English), and "I can't" is not correct either. "Não consigo" would be the correct translation to "I can't". "Não dá" is almost a slang, it is related to a task being impossible to execute. If someone tells you to place a round object in a square hole, you say "não dá", meaning is not possible. If you are drowning and someone throws you a rope, but a bit too far, you say "não consigo", or "I can't".
So, again, IMHO "desacelera" replied by a "não dá" is an indication that something wrong happened with the right TL, not a simple "forgotten TL" thing...
Marciovp, sorry if I jumped into answering the question directed to you by RWA...
And PBL, no more "green men" jokes, if you please...
Last edited by Rob21; 24th Sep 2007 at 16:02.