Taking, Making and Killing Time in the Italian Language

il tempo

time

“Subito!” a waiter said when we asked for the bill (il conto) on one of our first trips to Italy. Then he went missing.

“What did he say before he left?” my husband asked.

“Right away,” I replied, and we both chuckled. We’ve heard the same exclamation—followed by similar mysterious disappearances—many times since. When a waiter recently promised to come back “subitissimo” (as if in the blink of an eye), we settled in for an especially long wait.

Italians believe in dare tempo al tempo (literally giving time to time, or letting things take their course). Several expressions—”c’è un tempo per ogni cosa,“ “ogni cosa a tempo debito” or “ogni cosa a suo tempo”—translate more or less into “there’s a time for everything.” But that doesn’t mean you should let time slip by. “Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo,” advises an Italian proverb: “If you can do something now, don't postpone it”

In English time flies (il tempo vola). In Italian it tightens (il tempo stringe). “Il tempo è tiranno” (Time is pressing), a boss or teacher may warn, urging you to stringere i tempi (tighten the rhythm or pick up the beat). While English speakers play for time, Italians earn it (guadagnare tempo) or take it (prendere tempo). And rather than killing time, they cheat it (ingannare il tempo).  

“Da quanto tempo?” (Since when?) you might ask in Italian. Sometimes the answer is tempo fa (long ago) or even prima del tempo (before time). If you’re working against time (lottare contro il tempo), you may have to do two things al tempo stesso (at the same time) or a un tempo (at one time, simultaneously).  

Although it’s not an official unit of time, “poco” (little) appears in many timely expressions. You might say that a ogni poco (every now and then) you go to the mountains. You may have done so da poco (not long ago) but stayed per poco (for a short while) so you hope to return fra poco (shortly). “Aspetta un poco!” (Wait a moment!) someone may ask you, or a friend might say he thought of you poco fa (a moment ago).

“Come passa il tempo!” (How time passes!) Italians sigh con l’andare del tempo (literally with the going of time).  They refer to spare time as tempo perso (lost time) and a loafer or time-waster as a perditempo (time-loser). And they so heartily embrace darsi buon tempo (having a jolly good time) that they coined one of my favorite words for an easy-going, fun-loving person: un buontempone (a big good-timer).

Words and Expressions

 primo tempo, secondo tempo –- first half, second half (of a game or show)

Il tempo è galantuomo -– Time is the best healer

tempo di cottura –- cooking time  

tempo pieno –- full time

Dianne Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

For an evocative song about time and lovers, click below:

 

Comments

[Andrea Laforgia]

Dear Alexander, there's no reason, actually. I know it may be confusing, but very often languages are far from logical. I can only hazard an explanation, but take it with a grain of salt: "ingannare il tempo" means to cheat your own - i.e. specific - time, while "guadagnare [del] tempo" or "prendere [del] tempo" has no specific reference. Note that "guadagnare tempo" (not "quadagnare") has exactly the same meaning as "prendere tempo". I guess it doesn't actually mean "to save time" ("risparmiare tempo") but "to gain/buy time". It's "perdere del tempo" that means "to waste time".

[Alexander]

I know you are correct in your translation of the following three examples (partly because I looked them up), but can you or someone else explain why one phrase uses "il" tempo and the other two do not?
ingannare il tempo - to cheat time
quadagnare tempo - to save time
prendere tempo - to waste time

[Andrea Laforgia]

Wonderful post for a learner. It's a pleasure to read, once in a while, a post about the Italian language containing no mistakes in the sentences given as examples. I think that "a ogni poco" is somewhat old-fashioned and probably used locally, depending on the region or the city: "ogni tanto" is much more common. The form "aspetta un poco!" is usually transformed to "aspetta un po'!"