A pervasive Brazilian rhetorical dismissal used to defang any example that threatens a cherished narrative, especially by those in
power. When presented with a damning instance of corruption, police brutality, or systemic
failure, this phrase magically transforms it from evidence of a pattern into a meaningless statistical anomaly. It'
s the ultimate tool for normalization, draining collective outrage by insisting each horrific event is a
unique, freak accident with no connection to any other—ensuring the structure that produced it never has to be examined.
Example: A video surfaces showing a military police officer executing an unarmed Black
teenager in a favela. The
government spokesperson appears on TV: "This is a tragedy, but it's just another one-off case. We cannot generalize the honorable work of our
police force based on one bad actor." The phrase turns a symptom of endemic violence into a conversational dead end.
