Concept in Definition ABC

This word is used frequently in Argentina and Uruguay and serves to describe a rowdy, disorderly and confusing situation. Thus, a fight in a bar, a manifestation very hectic and tumultuous or a heated discussion between neighbors are contexts that are normally described as quilombos. It is a term that could be replaced by an extensive list of synonyms, such as uproar, brawl, mess, hubbub, move or mess.

The phrase "to put together a quilombo" indicates that there is some kind of conflict in which there are insults, threats, screams and fights and, ultimately, a certain chaos. It is a expression very colloquial and popular and would be inappropriate in a formal language context, for example in an official document.

If an Argentine says "what a quilombo!" This exclamation would be equivalent to "what a move!" or "wow! " in Spain.

The curious origin of the word

It is a term that comes from the Portuguese language

A quilombo was originally a slave camp or village installed in the Amazon jungle. In this place, the groups of slaves of African origin who fled from the farms where they worked hid to avoid possible reprisals from the masters and the authorities.

The term quilombo in Portuguese comes from kinbundu, a word that comes from a language African spoken in the territory from Angola, since many of the slaves who came to America came from the continent African. Thus, the quilombos that settled in Brazil after the Portuguese colonization became a place of refuge and some of them came to have several thousand people (one of the most famous quilombos is the Quilombo de los Palmares, which was maintained since 1580 and for a period of more than one hundred years).

The situation of the quilombos was very problematic for the authorities and for this reason they organized patrols of mercenaries (the well-known maroons) who were paid to recover the escaped slaves. Quilombos in Brazil persisted until the end of the 19th century when the slavery it was definitely abolished.

From slave villages in the Amazon rainforest to the streets of Argentina

Words have their own dynamics and evolution. The Quilombo case proves it. The African word kimbundu was adapted to Portuguese and finally incorporated into the Spanish spoken in Argentina.

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