the name veadotube came from the fact that i needed a name for the prototype i was about to develop after i failed to find any good alternatives for the more complex vtubing programs out there.

as someone who very visibly loves deer, i thought “ha, what if the V in vtuber stood for veado“, which means deer in portuguese. subsequently, bella drew a little fawn stuck in a tube, which happened to be the app icon for almost a year.

and that’s the full story! for the most part.

“i don’t speak portuguese, and i heard that veado is a slur”

well my dear gringo, you’re thinking of viado! that’s a slang for gay people, and the pronunciation is the same as veado.

the exact origins are uncertain, although most people seem to trace it back to the words desviado and transviado, both meaning noncomforming in some way. although the slang can be used in a derogatory sense (as most LGBT-related words), that’s hardly the case nowadays, and deer are pretty much part of the brazilian LGBT community at this point.

you might find it similar to queer (most people translate viado to f*g, as the derogatory sense is often towards gay men), but keep in mind that our cultures are different, and so is the concept of slurs and the whole “reclaiming” and all that.

i could just stop here and claim there isn’t a direct translation for viado, that viado isn’t exactly a slur in the way you mean it, and it’s substantially different from veado, which was the word you were looking for. and these are all true affirmations!

however they lack context, and the context is that one of the main reasons deer are so important to me is because of the way deer are important for us gays in brazil as well, and if i wasn’t a deer enthusiast, i wouldn’t have named the app that way, probably.

veadotube is also huge on being openly gay and trans – in terms of being transparent about how all the devs are LGBT, in terms of recognising how vtubing is embraced by trans people because of the nature of using a different avatar to represent yourself, in terms of making the community feel embraced in that aspect. there’s no shame in having such a double meaning like that when both meanings end up fitting just fine.

also, of course this wasn’t just a funny accident – i’m fully aware of the possible double meaning whenever i use the word veado. i often joke about how one of my online handles, lesbian deer, can be translated to portuguese as veada viada, which just sounds like i’m saying the same word twice :]

in conclusion

• veado means deer
• viado means gay person
• both words sound exactly the same
• it’s not a slur in the same way that english slurs are slurs
• i’m gay anyway. who cares
• if you use veadotube you’re gay
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