Becoming Italian Word by Word

April fool--or fish--in the Italian language

il pesce d'aprile

April fool 

According to legend, a raven on Noah’s ark set off on April 1 to search for a sign that the flood waters had receded, but it never returned. Others trace the madcap holiday back to the year 1564, when Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar that changed the beginning of the new year from April 1 to January 1. Some people who didn’t believe or wouldn’t accept the change kept celebrating New Year’s Day on the first of April. Others tried to show how silly these original April fools were  by sending them on pointless errands or tricking them into thinking something false was true.

Somehow the fool came to take the form of a fish in Italy.  Children try to tape a paper cutout of a little fish  (pesciolino) to the back of a schoolmate. “Have you seen it?” they chant. “Who?” the unwitting child asks.  “Il pesce d'aprile!”

In a country of pescatori (fishermen), and marinai  (sailors ), il pesce swims through daily life—and language.  In Italian you’re sano come un pesce  (healthy as a fish rather than an ox).  A big shot is un pesce grosso (big fish).  But be wary: I pesci grossi mangiano i piccini. The big fish eat the small fry. 

You don’t need a pole and bait to go fishing in Italian. Buttarsi a pesce (literally throw yourself like a fish) means to dive into an activity headfirst or with enthusiasm. Non sapere che pesci pigliare (not know which fish to pick) refers to being at a loss and not knowing which way to turn. Rather than the early bird catching the worm, in Italian chi dorme non piglia pesci (he who sleeps doesn’t catch the fish.) 

But in Italy, as everywhere,  “L’ospite è come il pesce; dopo tre giorni puzza.”  (Guests are like fish, after three days they stink.)

 
Words and Expressions

*trattare a pesci in faccia — to mistreat, to humiliate, to mortify

*un pesce fuor d'acqua — a fish out of water

*un pesce lesso — a boiled fish (boring person)

*prendere un granchio -- to take a crab (make a blunder, overshoot the mark)

*pescivendolo -- fishmonger

*pescheria -- fish shop

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

 

Celebrating Women in the Italian Language

la donna

woman

Italy celebrates la giornata della donna (woman’s day) on March 8, when husbands, boyfriends, and bosses present the women in their lives with bouquets of yellow mimosa. This international celebration is a relatively recent invention, created in 1911, but la donna has always played a complex, critical role in Italian life -- and language.

No one may have understood this better than Nicolò Tommaseo, a nineteenth-century essayist and iconoclast  whose passions included women and words. He demonstrated his devotion to the latter by compiling the Dizionario dei sinonimi, an encyclopedic narrative dictionary of Italian synonyms, published in 1864, and unmatched in any other language and literature. 

Italian alone, he contended—and in particular the Tuscan dialect that shaped the language—captures sfumature (nuances), the same word Italian uses for the subtle brush strokes of artists like Leonardo da Vinci.

 In Italian, for instance, a donna can also be a:

    *donna allegra or donna di facili costumi -- a woman of easy virtue 
    *donna di casa -- housewife (also called a casalinga)
    *donna di mondo -- worldly, sophisticated woman
    *donna di servizio –-housemaid, domestic help
    *prima donna -- leading lady
    *donnina -- clever or sensible girl
    *donnino -- womanly or mature girl who takes on adult responsibilities despite her young age
    *donnetta -- common or ordinary woman, also an old maid or a woman of no value
    *donnaccia -- bad-tempered woman, tart, prostitute
    *donnone -- tall, imposing or large woman
    *donnicciola -- simple or stupid woman.  gossip, or if used for a man, sissy or coward 

    A donnaiolo, however, is no lady, but a ladies’ man or womanizer.

Tommaseo further distinguished between una donna cattiva and una cattiva donna (English speakers would translate both as a bad woman).  However, the phrases do not have the same meaning in Italian. Una cattiva donna dresses badly and presents herself poorly, while una donna cattiva is spiteful and full of malice. Either could be una cattiva moglie (bad wife), who isn’t good at running a household and caring for a family, or una moglie cattiva, with a mean or wicked spirit.

Words  and Expressions:

fare la primadonna -- to act like a primadonna

"Chi dice donna dice danno" -- who says woman says damage (women are synonymous with harm)

"Quel che donna vuole Dio lo vuole" -- what woman wants, God wants.

"Né donna, né tela a lume di candela" -- Choose neither a woman nor linen by candlelight (to avoid  a nasty surprise the next morning)

Dianne Hales is author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

One thing is certain: La donna, by any and all names, has always enraptured the Italian uomo (man). Here is the legendary Pavorotti singing Puccini's lyrical tribute from Manon Lescaut:

Money, Money, Money in the Italian Language

Risparmiare, fare economia

 Saving Money

“Con la crisi gli italiani tornano parsimoniosi,” a newspaper headline recently declared. (With the crisis, Italians are becoming parsimonious again.)“Parsimonious” is not a word one hears very much in the English language, but in Italian la virtù della parsimonia o frugalità economica (the virtue of parsimony or economic frugality) dates back to the fourteenth century.

Words like frugale (frugal), parco (sparing) and economo (thrifty) never have gone out of style. Now Italians are tornando ai comportamenti virtuosi dei loro genitori (returning to the virtuous ways of their parents). Risparmiatori (savers or thrify people) are determined to tighten their belts (tirare la cinghia) and pinch pennies (guardare al centesimo). 

According to a national survey, almost half—47 percent-- say they fare la spesa in modo più oculato (are grocery shopping in a shrewder way); 31 percent have ridotto le dosi acquistate (reduced the amounts they purchase); and 24 percent utilizza quello che avanza per il pasto successivo (use leftovers for the next meal). Per via della crisi (because of the crisis), Italians say they have reduced le spese per l’abbigliamento (shopping for clothing) by 51 percent and spending per le vacanze (for vacation) by 50 percent.

Rather than going on a shopping spree (spese pazze) or buying items on a whim (per sfizio), Italians are sticking to the necessities (spese essenziali). Restaurants also are doing their part. More are offering customers an American invention: il doggy bag, which an Italian journalist had to define for readers as "il pacchetto con i resti del pasto, da consegnare ben confezionato al cliente" (the package with the remains of the meal, nicely packaged to be given to the customer).

Are you doing anything to tighten the purse strings (tirare i cordoni della borsa)? Are you cutting back on shopping (ridimensionare/ ridurre le spese)? Putting penies in a piggybank (salvadanaio)? Or simply being more attentive (essere /stare più attenti) to where your money goes? Just keep in mind: Il risparmio incomincia dal centesimo. (Saving  begins with a penny, or a penny saved is a penny earned.)

Words and Expressions

spendere e spandere –- to spend money like water

Non fare il passo più lungo della gamba! -- Don’t take a step longer than your leg. In other words, be cautious! 

avere le mani bucate –- to have holes in the hands, used for someone who spends like there is no tomorrow

avere il braccino corto –- to have short arms, too short to reach one's pockets and pick up a tab

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Click here for a song singing the praises of "soldi, soldi, soldi" (money, money, money):

 

"Snow Chaos" in the Italian Language

la neve

snow

When we were in Rome two winters ago, I asked if it might snow. “No,” everyone said. “Nevica a ogni morte di papa.” Literally, it snows “every death of the pope” (every time a pope dies) or once in a blue moon. Although the Pope remains alive and well, Rome saw its first nevicata (snowfall) in decades in 2010, but that was nothing compared to this year’s tempesta di neve (snow storm).

With almost sixteen inches of snow falling in the outskirts of Rome and more than nine feet in nearby regions last week, the result was “caos neve” (snow chaos), as these headlines reported:

• Traffico in tilt sulle autostrade (Traffic gridlocked on the highways)

• Roma totalmente paralizzata (Rome totally paralyzed)

• Interi paesi senza acqua ed elettricità (Entire towns without water and electricity)

• Aeroporti e autostrade chiusi (Airports and highways closed)

• Treni bloccati per ore (Trains blocked for hours)

• Persone morte per il freddo o per incidenti (People dead from the cold or in accidents)

• Disagi, situazioni di emergenza e tanta rabbia dei cittadini, costretti a trascorrere ore in auto o in stazione, in attesa di poter raggiungere casa (Inconvenience, emergency conditions and so much anger from citizens forced to pass hours in their cars or in stations waiting to be able to reach home)

Italian weather forecasters are warning, “L'ondata di freddo non è finita.” (The cold wave isn’t over.) The coming days are expected to bring ghiaccio e neve (ice and snow) to all of Italy. “Hai vinto, neve!” (You’ve won, snow), an Italian posted on Facebook. “Ci arrendiamo!” (We surrender). 

The youngsters in the photo above don't seem to mind the snowy weather (tempo nevoso). When snowed in (bloccata dalla neve), you might as well put on your snowboots (stivali da neve) and throw snowballs (lanciare palle di neve or giocare a palle di neve) -- or maybe make a snowman (un pupazzo di neve). 

Even some grown-ups are savoring Rome's transformation.  "Mi vergogno a dire che questi giornate per me sono state splendide" (I am embarassed to say that these days for me have been splendid), a friend writes,  "un silenzio incantato, il panorama magico e bianco dalle finestre, il piacere di stare in casa davanti al camino, con un buon vino--bellissimo!" (an enchanting silence, a magical and white view from the windows, the pleasure of being at home in front of the fireplace, with a good wine). Bellissimo indeed! 

Words and Expressions

bufera or tormenta di neve -- blizzard

fiocco di neve –- snowflake

nevoso, di neve -– snowy

spalare la neve –- shovel snow

spazzaneve –- snow plow

Biancaneve e i setti nani –- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

 

Bold, Beautiful and Dangerous in the Italian Language

La bella figura

A few years ago we set off to sail the islands (le isole) of the Tuscan archipelago with some mariner friends. After a few hours on the sky-blue Tyrrhenian sea (Mare Tirreno), my husband Bob (Roberto in Italy) broke out a bottle of champagne for a toast.

A crisis (crisi) emerged: There were no flutes on board. The champagne was so buono (good); the plastic boat glasses, so brutti (ugly). Si doveva fare qualcosa. (Something had to be done.) With a quick phone call, we headed into the nearest port –- Giglio Porto, now world-famous as the site of the shipwreck (naufragio) of the giant cruise liner, the Costa Concordia.

The port (il porto), teeming with ferries (traghetti) and commercial boats, offered no place to dock. The captain maneuvered our boat close to the pier. A young waiter (cameriere) came running from a dockside restaurant (conveniently owned by the captain’s cousin) with four champagne glasses (calici) chilling in an elegant ice bucket (secchiello del ghiaccio).

He raised the bucket as high as he could. Our co-captain Erasmo (above), dangling by one arm from the railing, leaned down from the prow. The boat rocked, up and down (su e giù), to and fro (avanti e indietro). For long moments, the bucket seemed suspended in mid-air. Then Erasmo lifted it triumphantly with one arm like a soccer champion (un campione del calcio).

We applauded. The fishermen (i pescatori) in the harbor cheered and waved. A few motorboats sounded their clacson (horns). The captain’s cousin (cugina) blew kisses from her restaurant railing. To us, it seemed an Italian variation on the classic Grey Poupon commercials. To Italians, it was a perfect example of “bella figura” a term that goes beyond making a good impression to describe a distinctive flair that transforms mundane moments into memorable ones.

“Una tendenza teatrale” (a theatrical tendency) is part of Italy’s charm, the acclaimed journalist Beppe Severgnini noted in a column in Corriere della Sera, yet it also is “alla radice di molti nostri problemi” (at the root of many of our problems). “Non soltanto sul mare”(not only on the sea), he added.

“Cosa insegna questa nave che affonda?” (What does this sinking ship teach us?) Severgnini asked. “Una volta ancora, un italiano è caduto nella trappola della bella figura.” (Once again an Italian has fallen into the trap of la bella figura.) Someone—either the captain, as his employers claim, or the ship owners, as he claims—could not resist the dramatic gesture of offering an inchino (a bow or salute) by coming close to shore to display the boat’s magnificent silhouette.

La grande nave (the great ship) sarebbe apparsa magicamente e si sarebbe esibita, con luci e sirene” (would have appeared magically and displayed itself, with lights and horns), wrote Severgnini. Instead things went terribly wrong. 

Troppo bello, meno buono. Too much of the beautiful and too little of the good, Italians say. But this may be changing. The captain of the Costa Concordia is “tanto poco amato” (so little loved), Severgnini observed, because he didn’t see the danger and then non ha saputo affrontarlo ed è andato via (didn’t know how to deal with it and went away)--non una bella figura, per niente (not a bella figura at all).

Words and Expressions

fare una cattiva or una brutta figura –- cut a bad or poor figure

per figura –- for show only

figuraccia -- bad figure

fare un inchino –- make a bow

Che figura! -- What a disgrace! How embarrassing! 

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA, My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

The Most Famous Obscenity in the Italian Language

La parolaccia

Bad Language

It has become the oscenità (obscenity) heard round the world. After the shipwreck of a cruise liner (nave da crociera) off the Tuscan coast, an officer of the Italian Coast Guard, angered by the captain’s abbandono (abandoning) of his ship, bluntly ordered him to go back on board. His exact words were: “Vada a bordo, cazzo!”

Reporters and bloggers have translated this phrase into English in a variety of ways, from a mild “Go on board, damn it!” to “Go on board, for %&*#’s sake!” to a much stronger, “Get the *&#!= back on board!” Italians are interpreting the slogan as an impassioned cry to all citizens to stop thinking only about themselves, to face harsh realities and to do what’s best for their country. The phrase has gone viral (si è diffusa viralmente) and appears on banners, tee-shirts, aprons and throw pillows (above).

Obscenities like cazzo “were among the oldest, if not the oldest, words in human history,” Vito Tartamella, author of Parolacce, told me when I interviewed him in Milan as part of my research for LA BELLA LINGUA. ”Civilization couldn’t exist without them. Instead of throwing rocks at each other, men learned to hurl insults and vulgarities.”

“Do Italians curse more than other people?” I asked.

“They curse differently,” said Tartamella, noting that, unlike French, German, or English speakers, Italians express powerful emotions like anger, disgust, surprise and horror with sexual obscenities rather than scatalogical ones.  

Cazzo, which dates back to about 1300, may stem from a dialect word for the maschio dell’oca (male goose), slang for the membro virile (masculine member or organ). Other linguists have traced it to an ancient word for "ladle" and to nautical terms associated with the lusty spirit of sailors long at sea.

Sebbene bandita dalla conversazione civile (although banished from polite conversation), cazzo, as my etymological dictionary notes, has remained sempre vitalissima (always very lively). The Italian writer Italo Calvino insisted that no precise equivalent for cazzo exists in any language.

I’ve heard Italians use it as an expression of surprise (cazzo!), praise (cazzuto), boredom (scazzo), anger (incazzato), approximation (a cazzo) or plain and simple contempt (cazzone). Among the “usi di cazzo” (uses of cazzo) at the Urban Dictionary website are col cazzo (never), alla cazzo (at random), non capirci un cazzo (not understand anything) and cazzi miei (my own business). If you read Italian or Neapolitan, Wikipedia offers even more—and more colorful—expressions.  

Under Mussolini’s Codice Rocco of 1930, the use of cazzo and other parolacce (dirty words) became a crime. Of course, Italians didn’t stop swearing; they just found new ways to do so. Instead of porca puttana! (damn whore), they said porca vacca! (damn cow) or they substituted figlio di buona donna (son of a good woman) for figlio di puttana.

Cavolo (cabbage) became a nice, green way to avoid the use of the very strong word cazzo. For instance, if you feel the need to ask “What the hell do you want?”, you might say “Che cavolo vuoi? “ without sounding vulgar. And if someone is spouting nonsense, you are better off saying “Non dire cavolate" (Don’t talk bullshit)) than using a harsher word like cazzate.

However, given the circumstances of the cruise liner’s sinking, “Vada a bordo, cavolo!” would never have sufficed.

Words and Expressions

turpiloquio --  foul language

bestemmia –- blasphemy

bestemmiare come un turco –- to curse or blaspheme like a trooper (Turk)  

bestemmiare il francese –- to mangle French

non mi importa un cavolo –- I don’t give a cabbage (damn)

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Shipwrecked in the Italian Language

 

il naufragio

shipwreck, total ruin

The sight of a huge cruise ship (nave da crociera) lying on its side (su un fianco) in the water, as if sleeping (come addormentata), was startling enough. But I immediately recognized the island (l’isola) in the background: Giglio, part of the Tuscan archipelago (arcipelago toscano) in the Tyrhennian sea (il mar Tirreno).

I’ve spent many happy days swimming and sailing in these beautiful waters, but I also have been warned about their dangers. Seafarers along the rocky peninsula of Monte Argentario say “C’è mare” (literally, there’s ocean) when the sea is rough (mosso). Combined with a tug at the lower eyelid, the phrase also implies, “Watch out. Pay attention.”

Even a lupo di mare (sea wolf, or expert mariner) needs more than a bussola (compass) to navigate these waters safely. In a guide for marinai (mariners) in the area, I found warnings of scogli isolati (scattered large rocks) that are “poco visibili con mare mosso” (barely visible in high seas).

According to news reports, the Costa Concordia ha urtato uno scoglio (collided with a large rock), causing a huge squarcio (gash), and imbarcava acqua (was taking on water). To date,eleven people are known to have drowned (annegati), and others remain missing (dispersi).

“Quella roccia non è sulle carte nautiche.” (That rock is not on the nautical map,” said the captain, who was arrested and charged with omicidio colposo plurimo, naufragio e abbandono della nave (multiple manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship.) Members of the crew (l’equipaggio) have accused him of “osare troppo” (venturing too far) from the designated route.  

Over the years the sea's harsh lessons about life’s dangers have made their way into the Italian language. Urtare (to collide with), for instance, can also mean “to run afoul of.” Essere in urto means “to be on bad terms”; mettersi in urto con qualcuno, “to fall out with someone.” Naufragare (to be shipwrecked) can also be used figuratively as “to be ruined” or “to flop.” In the sense of a “total ruin” or a “wreck,” a naufragio can happen anywhere and leave you affogato nei guai (overwhelmed by troubles).

Navigare in cattive acque (sailing in bad waters) is the Italian equivalent of skating on thin ice. If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t tirare i remi in barca (draw the oars on the boat, or give up). But if you hear the cry “Scialuppe a mare!”, it’s time to launch the lifeboats. And remember: In tempo di tempesta ogni buco è un porto. (Literally, in stormy times, every hole is a port—or, as English speakers say, any port in a storm.)

Words and Expressions

salvagente –- life preserver

scialuppa di salvataggio –- lifeboat

le operazioni di recupero –- rescue operations

naufrago –- castaway, shipwrecked person

andare a picco or andare a fondo –- to sink

lanciare un SOS –- to send an SOS, Mayday

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ITALIAN, THE WORLD'S MOST ENCHANTING LANGUAGE.

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Renewing the Italian Language

Nuove parole per una nuova Italia

New Words for a New Italy

It’s a new day in Italy, the end of an era (la fine di un’era) and the beginning of the “dopoSilvio” (after Silvio). On November 12, which some have dubbed La Festa della Liberazione (the feast of the Liberation), headlines declared “Addio” (goodbye). Crowds in the street, who had jeered Berlusconi as a buffone (clown) along with various unprintable epithets, began to chant “Futuro!” (Future!).

“Bisogna individuare un universo semantico nuovo” (It’s necessary to identify a new semantic universe), a top advertising expert commented. “Basta con il bunga bunga e riscopriamo l'orgoglio nazionale.” (Enough with the "bunga bunga" -- a term associated with Berlusconi's serial sex scandals -- and let’s rediscover the national pride.)

There is ”una straordinaria voglia di rinnovare il linguaggio” (an extraordinary wish to renew the language), observed La Repubblica, a major Italian newspaper.  In order to trovare un parola chiave per il nuovo tempo (find a key word for the new time), it has created a national poll (sondaggio) that offers readers the following possibilities:

*Rimontiamo –- an anagram of the Prime Minister Mario Monti’s name, it can translates as “Let’s move up,” “Let’s climb again” or “Let’s catch up.”

*Possiamo farcela –- We can do it

*Mai più -- Never again

*Fiducia nel Paese, fiducia negli altri -- trust in the country, trust in others

*Riscatto –- liberation, redemption

*Ricominciamo –- Let’s begin again, let’s start afresh

*Adesso si riparte –- Now we start again

*Rialziamo l'Italia — Let’s lift Italy up again

*Riprendiamoci l'ottimismo -- Let’s take back optimism

*E adesso, Italia -- And now, Italy

*Un Paese dove restare –- a country to stay in

*Il Paese dei talenti -- a country of talents

*Il tempo della fiducia e della competenza -- the time of trust and of competence

*Il tempo dell'essere dopo gli anni dell'apparire –- the time of being after the years of seeming

*Un Paese da cui non fuggire –- a country not to run away from

*Diventare un Paese vero –- becoming a true country

*Credibilità e verità –- credibility and truth

*Fiducia nel futuro –- trust in the future

*Dignità –- dignity

*Rigore e giustizia sociale –- rigor and social justice

*Più uguali –- more equal

*Equità sociale e crescita –- social equity and growth

*Siamo tutti europei –- We are all European

*L’Italia è una e indivisibile –- Italy is one and indivisible.

More than 55,000 people have responded to this poll. You can add your opinion here. The video below conveys the mix of skepticism and hope that many Italians feel for their povera patria (poor fatherland). “Non cambierà (it will not change),” goes the refrain,  “Forse cambierà” (Perhaps it will change.)

 

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language.

Money Talks in the Italian Language

il denaro, i soldi

money

With Italy’s financial crisis (crisi finanziaria) rattling money markets (mercati monetari) around the world, everyone is talking about il denaro. Povera Italia (poor Italy), with a huge national debt (debito pubblico). is desperately short of money (a corto di denaro). If unable to pay off the debt (estinguere il debito), the country could end up senza un soldo (without a dime)--or squattrinato (penniless).

The wealthy (ricchi or facoltosi danarosi) still seem to be rolling in money (nuotare nell’oro, literally swimming in gold). But almost everyone else is looking for ways to make money (fare soldi) and earn more “dough” (quattrini) to get out of debt (tappare un buco, or fill up a hole). Sometimes debtors (debitori)  are robbing Peter to pay Paul (fare un debito per pagarne un altro, or incurring one debt to pay off another).

Being in debt (avere un debito) is hardly unusual. Many Americans have a sizable mortgage debt (mutuo ipotecario or mutuo); most of us run up some sort of petty debt (debituccio) at times.  As Italy has discovered, getting out of debt (uscire dal debito) can be very difficult, especially when banks don’t want to lend money (prestare denaro) or one has to pay through the nose (pagare profumatamente or fragrantly) for a loan.

Usury (usura), lending at exorbitant rates, is nothing new. Centuries ago Italians coined the word strozzinaggio for such profiteering and dubbed a usurer a strozzino—both terms derived from “strozzare” for strangle or choke. In his Divine Comedy, Dante damned usurers to the seventh circle of hell, lower than murderers.

Some colorful proverbs provide other Italian perspectives on wealth and its pursuit:

*”Denaro e santità metà della metà.” Money and holiness, half of half. Statements regarding money and saintliness tend to be exaggerated, so take them with a grain of salt.

*“Chi ha mangia, chi non ha, s’arrangia." Who’s got it (money is implied ) eats. Who doesn’t makes do.  

*“Senza lilleri ‘un si lallera.” This Tuscan dialect saying is hard to translate, but basically means “no deeds without dings,” or nothing happens without money.

*“I quattrini mandan l’acqua all’insù.” Money sends water upwards--or can do the impossible.

*“Il denaro apre tutte le porte.” Money opens all doors—similar to the English “money talks.”

*“L’ultimo vestito ce lo fanno senza tasche.” The last suit (dress) is made without pockets. So even if you accumulate a fortune, you can’t take it with out.

Remember too that money can’t buy happiness. Or as the Italians say, “I soldi non fanno la felicità” (money doesn’t make happiness).

Words and Expressions

 pagare in contanti -– to pay in cash

quattro soldi –- used to refer to something cheap, worth only "two bits"

non valere un soldo bucato, non valere niente -- not to be worth a penny

Il tempo è denaro –- Time is money.

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language.

Click below for an ode to what “oro” (gold) can buy:

Becoming a Knight of the Italian Language

Il Cavaliere

The Knight

The President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, has awarded me the highest honor the government can bestow on a foreigner: honorary knighthood, with the title of Cavaliere dell’ Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) in recognition of La Bella Lingua as "an invaluable tool for promoting the Italian language."  The onorificenza (honor) was presented at a ceremony at the Italian Consulate in San Francisco on March 25. (Photo above; i will post more at my website in the coming week.)

Italy has a long tradition of honoring citizens who have served their country in extraordinary ways with a cavalierato (knighthood). Individuals in the military and in civilian life may be named to a specific ordine cavalleresco (knightly or chivalrous order), depending on the nature of their achievements. The noun cavaliere is always masculine, and both male and female knights are referred to as Cavaliere, abbreviated as Cav.

After World War II the Italian government created the Ordine della stella della solidarietà italiana (Order of the star of Italian solidarity) to honor and express appreciation to those outside the country who  contributed to the reconstruction of Italy (la ricostruzione dell’Italia). This designation is now conferred upon Italian expatriates and foreigners (stranieri, like myself) who have contributed to la preservazione dell'italianità (the preservation of the Italian spirit) and il prestigio nazionale all'estero (the national prestige abroad) through various activities.

The first mentioned is la promozione della lingua italiana (promotion of the Italian language), and I am proud that LA BELLA LINGUA has served this worthy purpose. Other honorees have been recognized for their volunteer work, philanthropy, scientific and technological research, commercial ventures, and la promozione eno-gastronomica (promotion of wine and gastronomy).

The nomination process involves an advisory committee called Il Consiglio dell’Ordine, whose members include  il Capo del Cerimoniale Diplomatico della Repubblica (the head of Diplomatic Ceremony for the Republic). They make recommendations to the Ministro degli Esteri (Foreign Minister), who presents the final nominees to Il Presidente della Repubblica.

I am, for once, senza parole (without words). To receive un’onorificenza così particolare, così grande, dal governo d’Italia (an award so special, so great, from the government of Italy) is  a great and unexpected honor. However, the recognition does not belong only to me.  I accepted the beautiful medallion (in three sizes and forms for various occasions) con profonda umiltà e gratitudine a nome di tutti coloro che considerano la lingua italiana uno dei più bei regali che Italia ha fatto al mondo intero (with profound humility and gratitude in the name of all who consider the Italian language one of the most beautiful gifts that Italy has made to the world).

To the government of Italy and to the many Italian sostenitori (supporters) of La Bella Lingua, grazie di cuore (thanks from the heart). Viva l’italiano!

Words and Expressions

cavaliere errante –- knight errant 

cavaliere servente –- ladies’ man

cavalleria –- chivalry

Il Cavaliere–- political nickname for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Click below for a particularly moving rendition of Italy’s national anthem, Fratelli d’Italia, sung a cappella by Roberto Benigni at this year’s San Remo music festival

 

Dianne Hales is author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.