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Lá ele

Portuguese

Meaning

Right back at you / not me, you (response to a double entendre)

Example

Vou chupar um picolé. — Lá ele, eu não!

I'm going to suck on a popsicle. — Right back at you, not me!

Origin

Bahian coinage that went national in 2022 when Qatar's World Cup mascot 'La'eeb' coincidentally sounded like the slang. The phrase — literally 'there's him' — is a deflection: when someone says something with a sexual double meaning, the listener responds lá ele, i.