An aside, regarding transportation: In Brazilian Portuguese - specifically used by those from the state of Minas Gerais - the word trem (train) has taken on ext

An aside, regarding transportation: In Brazilian Portuguese - specifically used by those from the state of Minas Gerais - the word trem (train) has taken on extra meanings. The story goes that when trains came to the region, people from the countryside started calling the objects being transported trains too. Thus trem became 'thing'. In Brazil, even the formal word for 'thing' (coisa) became a verb (coisar), informally. Meaning you can 'coisar a coisa' (thing the thing). There's even an informal masculine version of 'thing' (coiso), which serves no purpose but to say 'coisa'. Furthermore, regarding 'thing', one can also use 'troço' (which also means a useless person), 'treco', 'negócio' (business), and 'parada' (stop).