Becoming Italian Word by Word

Dress to Impress (or Kill) in the Italian Language

 

vestirsi

to dress

Americans on vacation in Italy typically dress for a day at Disneyworld in abbigliamento sportivo (sportwear or casual attire). Italians tend to ventirsi for an avventura, a word that can translate into both adventure and romance -- and ideally combines a little of both. In Italy clothes don’t merely cover the body; they send messages to express, impress, attract, amuse, define and seduce. What you choose to wear (indossare) translates into “il linguaggio dello stile” (the idiom of style), which can reveal as much as spoken or written language.

The point isn’t merely vestire gli ignudi (to clothe the naked) but vestire bene (to dress well). This can mean vestire con eleganza discreta (to dress with understated or subtle elegance), vestire alla moda (to wear fashionable clothes), vestire a festa (to wear one’s Sunday’s best), vestire splendidamente (to dress to kill) or vestire per fare colpo (to dress to impress).

In Milan, a capitale della moda (fashion capital), you can see a beautiful indossatrice (model) wearing the latest vestiti firmati (designer clothes) on the passerella (catwalk) at a sfilata di moda (fashion show). On the streets you’ll also see the occasional modaiolo (a trendy fashion victim) dressed in modo appariscente (in loud, flashy clothes). Yet very few Italians seem to have no dress sense (non avere gusto nel vestire). Most look well dressed (ben vestito) in a simple shirt (camicia) or blouse (camicetta) with slacks (pantaloni) or a skirt (gonna).

However, an Italian camicia doesn’t just cover the skin. You might go out In maniche di camicia (shirt sleeves) or a camiciotto (casual shirt), but you wouldn’t want to end up in a camicia di forza (strait-jacket). In English, the child of rich parents is said to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth. In Italian he’s nato con la camicia (born with the shirt).

If you put a great deal of effort into a project, you can claim to sudar sette camicie (sweat seven shirts). If you absolutely forget an appointment or a chore, you could say that it was a case of dimenticarsi di qualcosa come della prima camicia (forgetting something as totally as you’ve forgotten your first shirt).

Shirts aren’t only for people. Italians are so fashion-conscious that they even think of food as “dressed.” If you want poached eggs, for example, ask for uova in camicia.

Words and Expressions

vestito in bianco or vestito di bianco -– dressed in white

vestire di nero –- to dress in black or in mourning

sfilare sulla passerella –- to walk up and down the catwalk

farsi un vestito nuovo -- make yourself a new dress

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

Click below to preview a terrific documentary on Valentino, who created the dresses in the photo above:

A New Year’s Resolution in the Italian Language

fare una bella figura or fare bella figura

to make or cut a good figure

This is the season for i buoni propositi per l’anno nuovo (New Year's resolutions). Year after year we swear to smettere di fumare (stop smoking), mettersi a dieta (go on a diet), or iscriversi in palestra (join a gym). In this guest blog, Jody Goode, author of the blog Is 50 the new 40?,  resolves to fare una bella figura –- a phrase that she interprets in what may be a particularly American way. (An Italian offers a different perspective at the end of this post.)

by Jody Goode

To me la bella figura applies to all factors of appearance, dress, manners and actions. Although it is difficult to define, we know it when we see it. A person (una persona) with la bella figura exudes poise (padronanza di sé) but is not arrogant (arrogante), is attractive (attraente) but not vain (frivola), has impeccable manners (ha modi impeccabili) but remains warm and approachable (amichevole).

This person behaves with style (stile) elegance (eleganza) and grace (grazia) in all situations, yet she is accepting of others and never snobbish (non fa mai la snob). She walks with confidence no matter her age, bank balance, or size (a prescindere dall’età, il conto in banca o la taglia che porta).

She is well dressed (ben vestita) but not overdressed (non eccessiva). She is open (aperta) to new ideas and respectful (rispettosa) of the opinions of others, while at the same time she remains comfortable with who she is (a proprio agio con sé stessa)

She knows to laugh at herself (sa ridere di sé) when she makes a mistake (fa un errore) and realizes that, no matter how good her intentions, she is only human (solo un essere umano) and will sometimes fail (fallire). She knows that it is as important in some situations to remain silent (stare zitta), as it is in others to speak her mind (dire quello che pensa).

La bella figura requires that a woman take care of herself (prendersi cura di sé stessa), both physically and emotionally (fisicamente ed emotivamente), since a tired and miserable person (una persona stanca e triste) cannot carry this off. The woman who knows this is careful to nourish (nutrire) her body as well as her soul. She chooses the right ingredients (gli ingredienti giusti) and uses them often.

So for the coming year my resolution is fare una bella figura!

 ***

An Italian friend comments that presentarsi al meglio (presenting oneself at one’s best) and essere un modello di eleganza in ogni situazione (being a model of elegance in every situation) are commendable examples of "migliorare se stessi" (improving oneself). From an Italian perspective, fare bella figura refers to a single episode rather than a modo di essere (way of being). As she notes, even an unkempt, rough, uneducated villano (villain) can fare una bella figura in certain circumstances.

So in 2011, you might resolve to essere una bella persona (be a nice person) or fare una bella figura (behave in a nice, admirable way) as much as possible. My aspiration is to strive for both.

Buon Anno a tutti!

Words and Expressions

 fare una figuraccia, fare una brutta figura –- to cut a poor figure

fare la figura del fesso , dello stupido, del cretino -- to make a fool of oneself

un figuro -- a shady character

Che figura! -- how embarrassing!

To enjoy the timeless delight of two people who epitomize la bella figura, click below:

 

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

50 Years of "The Sweet Life" in the Italian Language

La Dolce Vita

Italy is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its most iconic film with the release of a digitally remastered version of La Dolce Vita. The Gucci fashion house paid for the restoration, which premiered last weekend at the Rome International Film Festival, as a tribute to the movie that “paved the way for a new world with an obsession for style, fashion, and celebrity.”

Its director, Federico Fellini, son of a traveling salesman, was born in 1920 in the seaside town of Rimini. At age 10 he ran away to join the circus. (His job was caring for a sick zebra.) During World War II, he traveled throughout Italy writing sketches for a touring theatre troupe.

After the war Fellini set up a store called the Funny Face Shop, where he sketched caricatures for American G.I.s. He also penned gags for comedians, illustrated comic books, and drafted radio plays. Fellini described himself as “un bugiardo,” a liar—but an honest one. He won eight Oscar nominations for screenwriting in addition to a raft of awards for directing.   

For his breakthrough movie of Rome during the 1950s, Fellini searched for the face of an everyman to play Marcello Rubini, a jaded, perpetually horny (arrapato, in Roman dialect) gossip reporter chasing scoops—and skirts--on the sultry Via Veneto. The producer, eager for a sure-fire success, wanted Paul Newman, but Fellini chose a rising but not well-known star named Marcello Mastroianni.

“The first thing Fellini said to me was, ‘I need a face with no personality—like yours,’” Mastroianni later recalled. The name Fellini coined for his character, Paparazzo (derived from a dialect word for a large pesky mosquito), morphed into paparazzi, the universal word for celebrity-chasing news hounds.

The movie—with a working title of "Although Life Is Brutal and Terrible, You Can Always Find a Few Wonderful Moments of Sensuality and Sweetness"—captured a vivid panorama of the not-always-sweet life of post-war Rome.  

Released in 1960, La Dolce Vita was condemned by the Vatican but won international critical acclaim. Its unforgettable scenes, such as Anita Ekberg’s nocturnal dip in the Trevi Fountain, signature music, and luscious leading man created an image of Italian life that enchanted the world.

Some critics compared this 165-minute movie, with 104 separate scenes, to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Like the 14th-century pilgrim, the errant journalist wanders through a corrupt world teeming with memorable characters—120 named in the script—to emerge into the light of day. Although Fellini’s voyager found neither radiant stars nor any hope of salvation, his film has joined the ranks of immortal screen classics.

Words and Expressions

Amarcord -- the title of Fellini’s semi-autobiographical movie, from a local Rimini dialect word for “I remember” that conveys a touch of poignancy

Vitelloni -- literally “big, overgrown calves,” the title of a Fellini film about aimless young men

Ciak! -- a director’s onomatopoeic cry for “Action!"

sceneggiatore -- scriptwriter

Grazie a tutti!  Thanks to all of you (tanti--so many!) who entered our "Viva l'italiano! Book Bonanza Contest."  I will announce the winners in my November newsletter.

Click below to see the movie's most famous scene:

Beauty Secrets in the Italian Language

il trucco

trick, make-up

Trucco does double-duty in the Italian language as the word for both trick and make-up. Fortunately, the art and artifice of female beauty have come a long way since the days of the Roman empire. Then as now, women wanted long lashes, alluring eyes, and full lips--and were willing to do almost anything to get them. 

The early equivalent of mascara was a stick of coal, carefully applied by a specially trained slave. As Alberto Angela reports in A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome, other products used to bring out the eyes included kohl, squid ink, lamp-black (made from roasted dates), and a paste consisting of the ground-up bodies of toasted ants. 

Lip colors come in a variety of shades, but the most popular was bright red. Unfortunately, its main ingredients—minium (red lead) and cinnabar (red mercuric sulfide)—were highly toxic. 

Beauty masks and skin treatments addressed a variety of cosmetic issues. Bull bile was used for facial “stains”; cow placentas for skin ulcers; butter for boils; narcissus bulbs as emollients; cantalope roots and cumin as whiteners; and an extract of calf genitals for dermatitis. 

To hide wrinkles, women would coat their faces with a mixture of honey and cerise, a white pigment that makes skin more luminous. For a more youthful pink, they would add some red pigments. Rather than blush, they rubbed their cheeks with hermatic powder. Those who could afford it powdered the tips of their breasts with gold. 

If you are in Rome and want to truccarsi (put on make-up) as modern Roman women do, here are some essential vocabulary words: 

• l’ombretto -- eye shadow 

• il rimmel -- mascara 

• il rossetto -- lipstick 

• il fondotinta -- foundation 

• il correttore -- concealer 

• il fard -- blush 

• la terra abbronzante -- shimmering bronzer 

• la cipria -- face powder 

• la matita per occhi -- eye pencil 

• la matita per labbra -- lip liner 

• il lucidalabbra -- lip gloss 

• la pinzetta -- tweezers 

• un pennello per il fard -- a make-up brush 

• uno smalto per unghie -- nail polish. 

 At un salone di bellezza (the beauty salon), una estetista or una visagista (a cosmetologist) offers a variety of services, including a manicure (farsi le unghie, literally to make or do the nails), a pedicure (farsi le unghie dei piedi), a facial (una pulizia del viso), and eyebrow waxing (ceretta alle sopracciglia). 

The make-up rituals of the women of ancient Rome may sound tortuous to us, but they don’t compare with a modern form of barbarism: the bikini wax (la ceretta nella zona bikini). 

Words and Expressions 

avere il trucco pesante -- to wear thick or heavy make-up 

truccatore -- make-up artist 

struccarsi -- to remove make-up (with a struccante or make-up remover) 

applicare lo smalto colorato per unghie -- to apply colored polish or polish the nails 

manicure/pedicure alla francese -- French mani/pedi 

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

For a sweet ode to two things women love--lipstick and chocolate--click below:

A Bad Hair Day in the Italian Language

i capelli (delle donne) 

women’s hair 

A bad hair day (una giornata storta) is nothing new. Regardless of whether their hair (i capelli) is curly (ricci), red (rossi), dark (scuri), brown (castani), or blond (biondi), women have always obsessed about it. According to Alberto Angela, author of A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome, women’s hair styles were not just fashion statements in imperial Rome but indications of their husbands’ power and their own prestige. 

Octavia, sister of the Emperor Augustus, inspired the “Octavia look,” with a little curl in the middle of the forehead, wavy hair around the temples, and a braid that ran around the top of the head in the form of a crest until coming together into a bun at the back of the neck. 

Many fashionable women would don a wig (parrucca). Made of real hair, red and blond wigs came from Germany; black ones, from the Middle East and India. 

Styles became so exaggerated that women stacked hairpieces on top of one another—“like the rows of seats in a theater,” says Angela—to create an enormous fountain of curls. Often the shorter the woman, the more monumental her hairdo was. (Mine would have been a veritable tower.) 

Women’s “big hair” reached unprecedented heights at the peak of the Roman Empire under Trajan in 115 A.D. Wanting to wear their hair “alla Plotina” (like the emperor’s wife Plotina), women created a vertical fan of hair running from one ear to the other. Little curls dangled like earrings at either end. Some women, according to Angela, looked like they were “wearing the back of a chair on their head.” 

Modern Italian women favor simpler styles, although many are impeccably groomed and never seem to have a hair out of place (non avere un capello fuori posto). If you’re a woman and spend enough time in Italy, sooner or later you'll need una parrucchiere di fiducia (a hairdresser you can trust) to cut (tagliare), dye (tingere), bleach (schiarire), highlight (fare i colpi di sole), layer (fare un taglio scalato), or style (fare una messa in piega) your hair. 

 Once the parrucchiere takes comb (pettine) and scissors (forbici) in hand, pay attention. You might want to give directions, such as: 

     *solo una spuntatina -- just a trim 

     *più lunghi qui -- longer here 

     *più corti qui -- shorter here 

     *mi tagli la frangia qui -- cut my bangs here 

     *porti la riga a destra -- part it on the right 

If you're pleased with the results, say, “Mi sta bene.” (It suits me). You also can ask for advice with problems such as la forfora (dandruff) and le doppie punte (split ends). 

If you have capelli that is grassi (greasy), secchi (dry), or crespi (frizzy), you may feel like mettersi le mani nei capelli (putting your hands in your hair in frustration).  Whenever you’re fed up with something, you may averne fin sopra i capelli (have it up to one’s hair) and become so furious that you have un diavolo per capello (a devil for hair). 

That might be enough to far rizzare i capelli (make one’s hair stand on end). 

Words and Expressions 

pettinarsi -- to comb one’s hair 

spazzolarsi i capelli -- to brush one’s hair 

capellone -- long-haired person, hippie 

dare una spuntata/spuntatina ai capelli -- to have one’s hair trimmed 

spaccare un capello in quattro -– to split one’s hair in fours, to  split hairs 

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

Sometimes the only solution for any brutta giornata, as the delightful song below advises, is "lo shampoo":

The Lure of Leather in the Italian Language

 

la pelletteria 

the leather shop 

Shoes to die for: high heels (tacchi alti), loafers (mocassini), boots (stivali), sandals (sandali). Gloves (guanti) that caress the fingers. Wallets (portafogli) as soft as butter. Briefcases (ventiquattrore) that gleam. And purses (borse) in every imaginable size, color and shape, stunning to behold, sensuous to touch, elegant to tote.

These are some of the delights you may discover in una pelletteria, an Italian leather store. Not all carry a full range of leather goods. Some specialize in gloves or shoes, for instance; others sell only purses. My favorite pelletterie are in Florence, where artisans have a long tradition of tanning hides (conciare pelli) and crafting leather into works of beauty. 

Since Italian leather can be as supple as skin, it’s only fitting that Italian uses the same word—la pelle—for both. But in the language “pelle” takes on a life of its own. A pellaccia is a rogue or a rascal. Amici per la pelle (friends for the skin) are best friends or bosom buddies. 

If you laugh so hard you could split your skin, you’re in danger of ridere a crepapelle. If you’re bursting with happiness, you might declare, “Non sto nella pelle dalla gioia” (a way of saying you’re over the moon with joy). Of course, you never want to vendere la pelle dell’orso prima che sia morto (sell the bear’s skin before it’s dead -- the equivalent of counting one’s chickens before they are hatched). 

Just as in English, sometimes you have to develop a pelle dura (hard or thick skin) and do whatever you must to salvare la pelle (save one’s skin). Levar la pelle (excoriate or peel skin) means to scold severely. Far la pelle a uno (make the skin to someone) is a slang expression for doing someone in or killing him. In dangerous situations, people may have to rischiare la pelle (risk one’s skin or life ) or even rimetterci la pelle (lose their skin or die in the process).That thought alone may be enough to make your skin creep (far venire la pelle d’oca). 

If you want to perfect your Italian pronunciation, try this classic tonguetwister: 

Apelle figlio d'Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo; tutti i pesci vennero a galla per vedere la palla di pelle di pollo, fatta da Apelle, figlio d’Apollo. (Apelle son of Apollo made a ball of chicken skin; all the fish came to the surface to see the ball of chicken skin, made by Apelle son of Apollo.) 

Words and Expressions 

la pelle d’oca -– goose flesh 

vendere cara la pelle -- to sell one’s skin dear, to put up a brave front 

essere pelle e ossa -- to be skin and bones 

spellarsi -- to peel off, to flake off (after a burn, for instance) 

vivere qualcosa sulla propria pelle -- to live something right on your skin, to have a direct experience of something, usually negative 

 A personal recommendation: FP Pelleterie in Florence sells elegant hand-made purses that, as the owner assures me every time I visit and invariably buy, you can never find anywhere else—and she’s right. 

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

 For a musical tribute to la pelle, click below: 

The Heights of Fashion in the Italian Language

 

tacchi alti

high heels

Long before I spoke Italian, I was fluent in the language of Italian shoes. Over the years I’ve heard some tall tales about their history, but my favorite is the story of an invention for which I, like other height-challenged women, remain forever grateful:  high heels (tacchi alti).

In the Renaissance the ladies of  noble households  vied to parade the longest trains, the fullest skirts, and the most extravagant silks, brocades, and velvets.  Under strict  “sumptuary” laws designed to restrict excessive displays of finery, city-states worked out formulas limiting how much fabric a dress could contain. The taller the woman, the wider and longer her gown could be.  And so women looked for ways to enhance their height.

Some say Leonardo da Vinci, that most versatile of geniuses, created the first elevated shoes. Others credit Catherine de’ Medici, the teenage bride who demanded added stature for her wedding to the future king of France in 1533. If a little boost was good, more quickly seemed better. 

With the aid of clever cobblers, women climbed onto wood or cork platforms that lifted them (and their fabulous skirts) as high as twenty inches above ground.  Called zoppieggi or sopei in Venice and calcagnini (from "calcagno," the heel of the foot) in other regions of Italy, these “overshoes” covered a daintier slipper, ostensibly to protect it from mud, dirt, and acqua alta  (high water) as women walked—or, more accurately, hobbled, often with the aid of canes or servants on either side—through the streets. 

 Venetian legislators, alarmed by the risk of falls, particularly to pregnant women, tried to prohibit these “walking footstools.” However,  they remained popular, especially among courtesans, for centuries. A local writer described the “tric trac” sound their wooden soles made when high-stepping women walked so fast “that it seems they have the devil between their legs.” 

A fascinating exhibit, "On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels," which runs until September 20 at the Bata Shoe Museum (a shoebox-shaped architectural delight) in Toronto,  includes towering heels directly descended from the Venetian zoppieggi. 

The remarkable collection reminded me of the platform shoes, called  zatterone in Italian, that made a comeback in the 1970s.  I twisted an ankle falling off mine. 

Sayings and Expressions

fare la scarpetta -- to wipe a plate clean with a little piece of bread  (literally to make the little shoe)

fare le scarpe a uno -- to inform on someone (do the shoes to someone)

mettere le scarpe al sole -- to die (put one’s shoes in the sun)

morire con le scarpe ai piede -- to die a violent or sudden death (die with one’s shoes on)

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