Becoming Italian Word by Word

Marriage, Italian Style

 

Matrimonio all’italiana  

Contributing bloggista Silvia Bascelli, whose daughter recently married, volunteered to take us inside the planning for an Italian matrimonio (which translates as both marriage or wedding). Her original, more expansive Italian version will appear on my LA BELLA LINGUA website. Here is my English adaptation: 

Italians use the expression “fare le nozze con i fichi secchi" (make a wedding with dry figs) for an attempt to accomplish something without spending what is necessary. It certainly takes a lot more than dry figs to organize un matrimonio italiano, including a great deal of time and quasi sempre moltissimo denaro (almost always lots and lots of money). Since most Italians are Catholic,weddings in Italy typically take place in church. 

Even those who are religious only in a superficial way often choose a matrimonio cattolico (Catholic wedding) for the sake of the atmosphere created by a church setting. Couples may search for months for una chiesetta di particolare bellezza (a little church of special beauty). Fortunately, Italy is full of these. 

I matrimoni civili (civil marriages), which take place in town halls and are celebrated by a mayor or one of his deputies, are becoming more frequent. Recently quasi tutti i comuni (almost all the communes or local governments), in order to make a civil ceremony as beautiful as one in a church, have started to provide a setting di particolare bellezza (of special beauty), such as a villa or a palazzo that is the property of the commune. 

Couples also must choose a restaurant for il pranzo o la cena di nozze (the wedding lunch or dinner) or il ricevimento (the reception). But before doing so, they must deal with an argomento spinoso e fondamentale (a thorny but essential issue): la lista degli invitati (the invitation list). 

Since most of the expenses in a traditional wedding depend on the number of guests, there may be a struggle between the desire not to squander a fortune simply for a party and the desire to share the joyous event with tutti i parenti e gli amici (all the relatives and friends). In most of Italy gli invitati (the invitees) number at least cento (one hundred); this may rise to duecento e piu' (two hundred or more). Some consider a big, lavish party a sign of social prestige and status. 

Often couples try to set off with a simple plan and then, as always happens, end up spending a great deal of money. “Non si bada a spese!” (Don’t worry about expenses!”) they may hear—or tell each other. To make matters worse, various merchants, at the sound of the word "matrimonio," feel authorized to jack up the prices of everything they supply. A dress that could cost, for example, 500 euro, ends up costing 2000 euro just because it’s white and worn as an abito da sposa (wedding dress).

 E cosi' tutto il resto.(And so it goes with all the rest.)

Words and Expressions 

anello di fidanzamento – engagement ring 

“Mi vuoi sposare?” – Will you marry me? 

matrimonio d’amore -- love match  

matrimonio d’interesse -- marriage of convenience 

matrimonio combinato – arranged marriage 

chiedere in matrimonio – ask in marriage 

letto matrimoniale – double bed 

Tra moglie e marito non mettere il dito -- Don't put a finger (meddle) between a husband and his wife. 

Here are some scenes of Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in the glorious Matrimonio all'Italiana.

Giving Thanks in the Italian Language

Grazie 

Thank you

Italians don’t observe the all-American holiday of thanksgiving (la festa del ringraziamento). There are Italian words, but no cultural equivalents for the Pilgrim fathers (padri pellegrini) and the American Indians (Amerindi) who came together to celebrate the harvest (il raccolto) in the new world (il Nuovo Mondo). Italians do eat turkey (tacchino) and pumpkin (zucca) but not in the traditional way (modo tradizionale) that Americans prepare them on Thanksgiving.

At this time of expressing gratitudine, I would like to thank (ringraziare) all of you—tanti! (so many)--who have visited my website, followed my blog, or read La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language (now in its third printing). Since they went live earlier this year, www.becomingitalian.com and  www.becomingitalianwordbyword.typepad.com have attracted some 80,000 visits. My blog on Italian ranks in the top .07 percent of all blogs and #16 on a recent list of the top 100 blogs on Italy.  

And so I say  grazie (thanks), grazie infinite (many thanks), grazie mille (thanks a thousand, literally, but it translates as thanks a million), molte grazie (thank you very much), and grazie di cuore (thanks from the heart).

 Italian appreciation (like everything else) becomes more effusive on paper. If you are writing a lettera di ringraziamento (a thank-you letter) for a gift, a meal, or a kindness, you might use phrases such as: 

 *Non so come ringraziarLa. -- I don’t know how to thank you (formal) 

*Grazie per la squisita ospitalità -- thank you for your exquisite hospitality 

*Grazie infinite per la Sua (formal)/ tua (informal) gentilezza -- thank you for your kindness 

*La ringrazio per tutto quello che ha fatto per me -- thank you for all that you have done for me. (formal) 

 *Il più affettuoso grazie per...la cena, il regalo, ecc -- most affectionate thanks for…the dinner, the gift, etc. 

*Le porgo i miei più sentiti ringraziamenti -- I profer to you my most heartfelt thanks (formal) 

*Non trovo parole per dirLe quanto ci ha fatto piacere -- I cannot find the words to tell you how much pleasure it gave me 

 So what do you say when someone thanks you? Here are some options: 

*Prego -- My pleasure 

*Di niente -- It’s nothing 

*Grazie a Lei -- Thanks to you (formal) 

*Non c’è di che -- Not at all 

*Ma immaginati!  Ma figurati! -- That’s all right (literally, imagine or fancy that) –

*Non dirlo neanche -- Don’t even mention it 

*Non dire sciocchezze -- Don’t be silly (to friends) 

*È il minimo che potessi fare -- It was the least I can do 

*È stato un piacere -- It was a pleasure 

*Se posso esser d’aiuto un’altra volta -- If I can be of help any other time (don’t hesitate to ask) 

And then there's my husband's favorite: L'onore e tutto mio! The honor is all mine.

I owe a special grazie to geneaologist Michelina Santoriello Hall, who shares my passion for Italy and transforms Italian words into works of art, such as the image above. You can find more at her website.   

Words and Expression 

ingraziarsi -- to curry favor 

grazie a Dio -- thank God 

Grazie, a buon rendere! -- Thank you, I owe you one! 

essere grato di – to appreciate, to be grateful for. 

If I could show my appreciation in a song, this is the one I'd choose. You can find the lyrics on the youtube site.

Feeling Bad in the Italian Language

Non mi sento bene, sto male 

I don’t feel well

These are not the words any traveler wants to utter in Italy. However, if you spend enough time there, sooner or later you are likely to prendere un raffreddore (take or come down with a cold), pigliarsi un malanno (catch a minor illness), suffer mal d’auto, mal d’aria, or mal di mare (car/air/seasickness), or farsi male (do one self harm or get hurt). 

Several years ago  my husband injured his neck while working out at a gym in Italy. I called a doctor-friend, who seemed more puzzled than concerned when I reported that Bob “ha un’ ingiuria.” “Ingiuria,” I learned, means insult. I should have used the term infortunarsi (which describes the unfortunate state of getting injured or having an accident). 

 No, I assured our friend, there was no blood (sangue) and no need for bandages (le bende). And no, Bob had not perduto conoscenza (lost consciousness), perso i sensi (lost his senses) or venuto meno (came less)—all expressions for fainting or passing out. He did not have nausea (the same in English and Italian). And he did not dare di stomaco (give of the stomach) or, more colloquially, vomitare or rimettere (vomit, puke).

 “Peggiora?” “Is it getting worse?” he asked. The answer was no. 

“Meno male!” (“Thank goodness”) he said. Nothing seemed rotto (broken), and he saw no need to call il 118 (Italy’s emergency equivalent of 911) or go to a Pronto Soccorso (emergency room. He suggested we go to the local farmacia (pharmacy) to get an analgesico (pain killer).

 “Una compressa al giorno” (“one tablet a day”), said the farmacista. “Da prendere dopo—non prima—i pasti” (“to be taken after, not before, meals). Pretty soon Bob si sentiiva meglio (was feeling better). 

We’ve returned to the local farmacista many times since for mostly minor maladies such as headache (mal di testa), stomach ache (mal di stomaco), and sore throat (mal di gola). While waiting in line, I’ve learned the words for all sorts of problems: taglio (cut), ferita (wound, usually with blood), livido (bruise), strappo muscolare (pulled muscle), and  febbre alta (high fever). I’ve also met an Italian ipocondriaco (hypochondriac) or two.  

Some medical problems, such as l’asma (asthma), l’artrite (arthritis), and diarrea (diarrhea), have similar names in English and Italian. Others may make their victims just as miserable but undeniably sound better in Italian: tosse ( cough), pressione alta (hypertension); capogiro (spinning head or dizziness), stitichezza (constipation).

 I  heard my favorite Italian euphemism for a bodily function from a little boy who wrinkled his nose and asked his mother: “Chi fa il profumino?” (Who is making the little perfume—that is, passing gas?) It reminded me that il riso fa buon sangue. Laughter makes good blood or, as we would say In English, good medicine. 

Words and Expressions 

farne una malattia -- get sick over something, take it to heart` 

Ho bisogno di un medico -- I need a doctor

 Mi fa male qui -- it hurts here 

malessere -- indisposition

ricetta medica -- prescription or "medical recipe"

To hear the sounds of a lovesick heart, click below for Omella Vanoni’s beautiful Italian version of a famous French song. 

No Way like an Italian Weigh

Pesi e Misure 

Weights and Measures 

There is one advantage to not knowing the metric system: When I weigh myself in Italy, even after third helpings of tiramisù, I look at the double digits indicating kilograms and feel magra (thin). Everywhere else, from the supermarket to the gas station, I’m stumped by Italian’s ways of weighing. And so I’m grateful to Silvia Bascelli for this blog. Her original Italian version will be  available on the “Students and Teachers” page of my “Becoming Italian” website. Here is my English adaptation: 

Le misure (measures) are truly different from those used in the United States. Not a single one is the same. No, there is one: la misura del tempo (the measure of time). Le ore (hours), i minuti (minutes) and i secondi (seconds) are the same. But the others remain buio pesto (pitch dark).

Italy, like most of world, uses the sistema metrico decimale (decimal metric system), which is much simpler and more rational than that used in the paesi anglosassoni (Anglosaxon countries). You just multiply or divide by 10, 100, or 1000 -- which is much quicker than multiplying or dividing by 12 or by three. However, even a simpler system can be disorienting (far disorientare) if you’re not familiar with it. 

Imagine yourself in the magnificent Piazza delle Erbe in the center of Padua, or Campo dei Fiori in Rome, or the historic mercato della Vucciria in Palermo. What would you ask the fruttivendolo (fruit vendor) if you want to buy della frutta (some fruit)? How would you evaluate il prezzo (the price)? 

Fruit and vegetables are sold in "chilogrammi" (kilograms) or simply "chili" (pronounced keel-ee). "Mi da' un chilo di mele," you’d say. (Give me a chilo of apples.) A chilo is a little more than two libbre (pounds) and is divided into ten etti (one etto is about three ounces). If you want to buy some prosciutto, you would say, “Mi da' un etto (o due etti.) di prosciutto.” (Give me an etto—or two etti—of prosciutto.) 

A chilo is divided into a thousand grams or "grammi," una misura piccolissima (a very tiny measure). If you go to a goldsmith’s (dall'orefice) to buy something, the weight dell’oro (of the gold) would be expressed in grammi. 

Le misure di lunghezza (Measures of Distance) 

The basic measure is il metro (the meter), which is a little more than a yard. A meter is divided by 100 centimeters. A thousand meters make un chilometro (a kilometer), which is used to indicate le distanze (the distances) -- say, between two cities. Un miglio (a mile) is about 1600 meters, more than one and a half a kilometer. Milan and Rome are about 600 chilometri or 380 miglia from each other.

 If you want to prendere in affitto una casa (rent a house), you would want to evaluate its superficie (area), which is indicated in metri quadrati (square meters). Un metro quadrato roughly corresponds to dieci piedi quadrati (ten square feet) 

L'altezza delle montagne (the height of mountains) also is expressed in metri. Monte Bianco (Mount Blanc), for instance, is alto 4900 metri e non 4 chilometri e 900 metri (4900 meters high -- not 4 kilometers and 900 meters). 

Le misure di capacità (Measures of Capacity)

If you want to buy milk or gasoline, the measure to use is il litro (the liter). It takes 3,78 litri to make a gallon. (Attention: Italian uses la virgola--the comma-- where the United States uses il punto—the period.) With gas, it’s easy to get around this problem in two different ways: You can ask for “il pieno” (a full tank) or you can buy whatever quantity corresponds to the amount of money you want to spend. For instance, you might ask for 20 euro di benzina (20 euro worth of gasoline). 

When you find yourself in these situations, you may be tempted to do what I do: stubbornly try to translate the unknown measurements into those that you know. Silvia’s advice: imparare le misure del luogo. (Learn the measures of the place.) If you do, you will feel a sense of satisfaction that is fuor di misura (beyond measure). 

Words and Expressions 

vendere a peso -- to sell by weight 

vendere a peso d’oro -- to sell by the weight of gold or at a high figure 

il peso degli anni -- the weight of the years 

avere due pesi e due misure --  to have two weights and two measures, to be unfair 

peso morto -- dead weight

What's Worse than an Enemy in the Italian Language?

falsi amici

false friends

Among the perils of the Italian language are words that look and sound like English ones—but mean something entirely different. “Falsi amici” (false friends). Italian teachers call them, and they can trip up even accomplished speakers—and trigger an argomento, which is a subject for discussion, not a debate.

Gentile and simpatico, for instance, both mean nice rather than gentle (dolce or leggero) or sympathetic (comprensivo). Crudo translates as raw (as in vegetables) while crude is volgare and grosso is large. Someone overly fastidious can be fastidioso (annoying) in Italian, but if you’re annoyed, you’re not annoiato (bored) but seccato.

In Italy you’re more likely to acquire educazione (manners) at home than in schools, which provide istruzione. Students may attend un collegio, but that’s a boarding school, not a college. And if you head for a ginnasio, you’ll end up, not in a gym, but in a high school.

An Italian camera (room) can be used for many things, but not taking pictures. You can buy books in a libreria (bookshop) and borrow them from a library (biblioteca)--both good places to look for a romanzo (novel, not romance). You probably won’t find anything to read in an Italian magazzino, which means warehouse, not magazine (rivista). You wouldn’t expect to see cows and pigs in an American factory (fabbrica), but you would on an Italian fattoria (farm). (The word for fabric, BTW, is tessuto.)

Be especially wary of adverbs. Eventualmente does not mean eventually but “possibly” or “in that case,” as in “Non preoccuparti, eventualmente vengo la settimana prossima.” (“Don’t worry. In that case I’ll come next week.”) Don’t confuse attualmente (currently) with actually (veramente or in realtà). Finalmente is translated as “at last” not “finally.”

False friends have led me astray many a time. I’ve confused fame (hunger) and fama (fame), sensibile (sensitive) and sensato (sensible), morbido (soft) and morboso (morbid). I’ve complained that a loud restaurant was noioso (boring) when I meant rumoroso (noisy). I thought the hotel clerk asking for my firma wanted the name of a business (azienda) rather than my signature. And I assumed the workers whom I overheard saying “Accidenti!” were talking about an accident rather than swearing.

I once reported to a puzzled doctor that a friend had suffered an ingiuria (insult) rather than a ferita (injury). When an acquaintance described her vacation as “una grande delusione,” it took a minute for me to realize she meant a big disappointment, not a delusion. A hotel manager chuckled when I commented on Americans' growing appreciation for luxury (lusso). The reason: I had used the false friend lussuria (lust). At least I didn’t make the mistake of a British man with a fondness for jam who asked a startled waiter for preservativi (condoms) with his toast.

Other Falsi Amici

confrontare -- compare, not confront

intendere -- understand, not intend

pretendere -- expect, not pretend

attendere -- to wait , not to attend

bravo -- good or clever, not brave

casuale -- coincidental, not casual

patente -- license, not patent

parente -- relative, not parent

The Ten Most Important Words from the Italian Language

Le dieci parole italiane più importanti della lingua italiana

What would be your nominee for the most important Italian word (historically and culturally) that has entered your language? In a recent poll, the Società Dante Alighieri asked this question of non-Italians around the world. Here are the top ten words they chose:

1. pizza (noun, feminine): a kind of focaccia bread called picea dates back to the Roman empire. A definition from 997 describes a sottile focaccia di pasta (a soft focaccia of dough) seasoned with oil, mozzarella and other flavorings and baked in an oven. Over the centuries the Neapolitans gained fame for their savory pizza creations. In the 19th century the Bourbon king ruling Naples so enjoyed the creations of a pizzaiolo named Don Domenico Testa that he bequeathed on him the title Monsieur, usually reserved for the chefs de cuisine of royal households. Monsu, as the Neapolitans pronounced the honorific, remains a nickname for the city’s pizza bakers. 


2. cappuccino (noun, masculine): a mixture of espresso and frothy milk named because its soft nut-brown color resembles that of the habits of cappuccini monks. Italians drink it only in the morning with a cornetto or other pastry.

3. spaghetti (noun, masculine): fine macaroni, from “spago” for string. The first written record of this dish was found in a travelogue written around 1154 that described the production and drying of thin noodles called itriyya (an Arabic word that  Italians translated into vermicelli, or little worms) in a village in Sicily.  Sailors probably transported this durable food to Genoa and Pisa, where spaghetti and vermicelli appear in personal wills and inventories

4. espresso (noun, masculine): specially made black coffee produced by a process that forces hot water through ground coffee beans at high pressure. The result is deep black with a shimmering light brown crema on top. An Italian culinary encyclopedia states that espresso is coffee at its best, “refreshing the mind, cheering the spirit, and disposing the drinker both to dream and reflect.”

5. mozzarella (noun, feminine): a soft cheese whose name comes from mozzare, which means to tear by hand, a crucial step in the process of making mozzarella.  Its name also may come from scamozzata, a southern Italian term meaning “without a shirt,” an apt description of a soft cheese that lacks a dry or hard covering.

6. tiramisù (noun, masculine): a popular dessert whose name literally means “pick me up,” made in various ways that combine savoiardi (similar to lady finger biscuits) dipped in espresso with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone, and sugar, topped with cocoa.

7. bravo (adjective): defined in the 14th century as praise for someone who “completes his proper work with good will and ability.” This word of exhortation or encouragement is used only for creatures that breathe. A singer might merit a “bravo!”; the song, a buono or bello (or both).

8. allegro (adjective): Dante used this word in the 1290s to mean light or playful; several centuries later its meaning expanded to cheerful, merry,or good humored; it also denotes lively music played at a rapid tempo.

9. lasagne (noun, feminine): flat noodles made from dough that date back to a pasta called langanum or lagane, which the ancient Romans cooked and ate. Italians use the plural form,as they do for spaghetti.

10. risotto (noun, masculine): rice cooked in broth until it is completely absorbed; prepared with various additions, such as porcini mushrooms, saffron, seafood, and asparagus.

Other terms that placed in the top twenty include: dolce vita, gondola, paparazzi, ravioli, prima donna, fiasco, malaria, and terracotta. What words would you nominate?