Becoming Italian Word by Word

The Ides of March and the Italian Language

 

Le idi di marzo 

In the oldest Roman calendar March (marzo) was the first month (il primo mese) of the year, named for Mars (Marte), the fierce god of war (dio della guerra), and the time when Rome’s legions (le legioni), after a winter’s break, prepared for new conquests and battle.

The ancient Romans (gli antichi romani) did not number the days of the month sequentially as we do from first to last. Instead they counted back from three fixed points: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the month’s length),  the Ides (13th or 15th) and the Kalends (1st) of the month.

The Ides (the plural form of the Latin idus) occurred near mid-month—on the 13th for most months but on the 15th in March, May, July and October. On the earliest Roman calendar (calendario romano),  the Ides of March marked the first full moon (luna piena) of the new year.

The Ides of each month were dedicated to Jupiter (Giove), the supreme Roman deity. In his honor a high priest would lead the “Ides sheep” (ovis Idulius, in Latin) in  procession along the Via Sacra to the altar for sacrifice.  

By March 15, 44 B.C., Julius Caesar, Rome’s most victorious general (generale vittorioso), had gained great power and popularity. After he called for reforms, including a reduction in the power of the old families in the Roman Senate, his opponents decided to act before he left on a prolonged military campaign.  A Greek tutor overheard the assassination plot in the home of Brutus and wrote a warning to Caesar. He handed it to him on a scroll as he walked to the Senate, but Caesar never opened the scroll.  

According to Shakespeare’s play, an Etruscan soothsayer also warned Caesar to beware  the Ides of March (fare attenzione alle idi di marzo). When he passed the seer, Caesar joked, “The Ides of March have come” (Le idi di marzo sono arrivate). To which the prophet replied, “Yes, but not yet gone." (Sì, ma non sono ancora passate).

As many as 60 conspirators gathered around the dictator (dittatore)  At first, Caesar attempted to defend himself against their knives.  But when Brutus, the son of his former mistress, raised his blade to strike, Caesar cried out, “Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi!" ("Anche tu, Bruto, figlio mio!"—You too, Brutus, my son)  and gave up the fight.

Or so Shakespeare has us believe.  The real story, according to The Death of Caesar by historian Barry Strauss, “was even dirtier and more devious.”  As he reports, Caesar cried out in Greek, not Latin, saying, “You too, my child?”   Gossip had long claimed that Caesar was Brutus’ biological father—even though he was only fifteen when Brutus was born.

The Roman historian Ovid portrayed the killing as the sacriligious  murder (omicidio) of Rome’s highest pontiff. Others characterized the assassination as a religious sacrifice, a ritual offering that transformed Caesar into a god.  In his Divine Comedy, Dante placed the conspirators in the deepest part of hell (nella parte più profonda dell’inferno) reserved for traitors (traditori) like Judas Iscariot.

The Italian language pays tribute to the fallen emperor with a word that exists in no other tongue: cesaricidio (the murder of Caesar). “Caesar” became the title of emperors down to Hadrian in the second century A.D. and served as the root for  German’s “Kaiser” and Russian’s “czar.”  According to one of my etymological dictionaries, “Caesar” also inspired an American slang word used around the turn of the twentieth century: the  ironic nickname “Great Seizer” for a small town sheriff.

Words and Expressions

L’assassinio — assassination 

La congiura — plot, conspiracy

Parto cesareo –- C-section (for the method of Caesar's delivery)

“Veni, vidi, vici” –-  Venni, Vidi, Vinsi. I came, I saw, I conquered. (Caesar’s famous summary of his conquest of Gaul)

Dianne Hales is the author of MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

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Tasting Nonna's Recipes in Rome--and in the Italian Language

Assaggiare

To taste, to try

            “Assaggia!”

             I guessed the meaning of the word the first time I heard it, based on the smile on my friend’s face and the delicious tidbit she was offering:  “Have a taste. Give it a try. Savor this treat.”

            Of all the dishes and delights I've tried over the years, the assaggi (tastings) I remember best were home-made (fatti in casa), often with recipes handed down from a beloved nonna (grandmother). For those of us not lucky enough to have una nonna italiana, a new restaurant in Rome offers the next best thing: the chance to sample traditional recipes (le ricette tradizionali) just like Nonna might have made them—if she were a Michelin-starred chef. 

Under the direction of celebrity chef Angelo Troiani, Assaggia offers three, six or nine small plates (piccolo piatti), based on recipes from his and his partners’ grandmothers. The dramatically lit contemporary dining space is tucked into Margutta 19, a chic new boutique hotel on my favorite street in Rome, where Truman Capote and Federico Fellini once lived--and Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn romped in Roman Holiday.

  “Assaggia isn’t as much a restaurant as a place to come and stay and taste, like you would in a home, “ says manager Alberto Gaido. “You can eat a little, or you can eat a lot.” You can also pair each tasting with a local wine.

            For Italians, the experience evokes all the emotions and memories (tutte le emozioni e i ricordi) of a meal at Nonna’s. For visitors, it’s a chance to learn more about the customs and gastronomic culture (le usanze e la cultura gastronomica) of Italy—and to expand your culinary vocabulary

            Among the dishes we tried and loved:

            *Carbonara: Cappelli with organic eggs (uova bio), pecorino and parmesan cheeses plus guanciale (cured pork cheek).  

            *Fiori di zucca fritti in pastella:  Fresh zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies (alici), in a lightly fried batter of beer and farina (pastella croccante di birra e farina). Whenever a friend makes these for us, my husband and I eagerly snatch them straight from the frying pan.

            *Supplì al telefono:  Risotto balls with tomato sauce (ragù al pomodoro) and minced meat with a center of mozzarella strands (un cuore di mozzarella filante), breaded and lightly fried. The long strings of warm cheese are the reason for the “telefono” in the name.

            *Polpette al pomodoro: Inspired by a traditional Roman recipe, the most tender meat (la carne più tenera) is cooked as a meatball in a rich tomato sauce. “Da scarpetta!”—worthy of making a “little shoe” with some bread to soak up every last drop.   

            *Amatriciana: The chef’s signature pasta, with short “mezze maniche” (half-sleeve) pasta with a tomato sauce flavored with guanciale and local pecorino cheese.         

            *Saltimbocca alla romana: Veal fillet (girello di vitello) from local farms topped with prosciutto and flavored with fresh sage (salvia).

            *Puntarelle con pesto di aglio e alici:  Crunchy Catalonian chicory with a pesto of garlic (aglio) and anchovies and a splash of white balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico bianco).

            *Coda alla vaccinara: Modern Roman oxtail stew cooked slowly in tomato sauce with a sprinkling  of bitter cocoa (una spolverata di cacao amaro).

             If you don’t have a nonna to visit the next time you’re in Rome, provate Assaggia (give Assaggia a try)!

Words and Expressions

Menu degustazione –- tasting menu

Della nonna –- grandma’s, traditional,  home-made

Assaggini –- (informal) appetizers, little tastes

Dianne Hales is the author of Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered and La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

Unearthing Ancient Rome in the Italian Language

 

Lo scavo del Palatino

The Excavation of the Palatine

Some describe Roma as a plate of archaeological lasagna (un piatto di lasagne archeologiche), made of layers upon layers of history (strati su strati di storia). Clementina Panella, a professor of archaeology at the Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” views it as a great book of human history (un grande libro di storia dell’umanità). After thirty years of excavations, her team is uncovering the first pages (le prime pagine) of this remarkable story.

The oldest traces (le tracce più antiche) date back to simple huts built in the tenth to fourteenth centuries B.C. (A.C. for Avanti Cristo, before Christ, in Italian). Panella’s dig has centered on the swath of land between the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, the very heart of ancient Rome.

This “importantissima” zone, never before explored, has yielded discovery after discovery (scoperta dopo scoperta). The most significant is the Curiae Veteres, a vast religious sanctuary where Romulus gathered representatives from Rome’s districts (curiae) to worship and eat together (mangiare insieme). As animal bones (ossa animali) testify, meat was definitely on the menu.

For Panella, another exciting discovery was the Meda Sudans, a monumental fountain (fontana) built by Augustus, Rome’s first emperor. Nearby the archaeologists found a luxuriously decorated domus or residence believed to be the place where Augustus was born in 63 B.C. His wife Livia converted it into a temple after his death in 14 A.D. (D.C. for Dopo Cristo, after Christ, in Italian).

Among the intriguing findings, tucked inside a collapsed wooden box, were these insignia— scepters not unlike those of a Harry Potter wizard, topped by gleaming glass globes, as well as spears (scettri) and lances (lance) for bearing flags -- from the 4th century A.D. “We believe they belonged to Emperor Maxentius and were hidden after he was killed by Constantine in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D.," says Panella.

Especially touching—and unexpected—was an urn from the fifth century B.C., buried in shallow ground under a protective overhang. Inside, wrapped in a covering of sorts, were the remains of a baby who may have died at or shortly after birth. Panella describes the revelation as “molto impressionante” (very startling), a poignant reminder of the timeless sorrow of a child’s loss.

The city’s version of urban recycling has often been a challenge. “Roma si mangia,” Panella says. (Rome eats itself.) From the earliest days, builders took stones, metals, glass and decorations from existing structures to construct new buildings. As Panella’s team discovered, some used statuary, such as a marble bust of Emperor Septimius Severus, who died in 211 A.D., as “filler” for the foundations of new edifices.

Working among the glories of ancient Rome has been “un gran privilegio” (a great privilege),” says Panella. “I lift my head, and I see the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the temple of Venus.” Most rewarding has been the thrill of discovery, “of finding something that has never been seen before, trying to interpret it in light of what we already know, and adding another element to an extraordinary story.”

“This excavation allows us to reconstruct 3,000 years of history,” says Tracy Roberts, vice-president of LoveItaly.org, a nonprofit association that has launched a crowdfunding campaign to enable Professor Panella to complete her research. “By contributing, you can become part of the history, not just of Rome or Italy, but of all humanity.” For more information on the Palatine excavation, check out LoveItaly’s website.

Dianne Hales, shown here with Professor Panella and a marble bust of Emperor Septimius Severus,  is the author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language and Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered.

 

 

Click below for a video on the Palatine dig.

Passion and Pleasure on an Italian Journey

     

    “Was your trip for business or pleasure?” asked the customs agent at the San Francisco airport on my recent return from Italy.

    “Business,” I replied. Then I paused to confess the whole truth.

    “Well, I was researching a book on Italian passions…”

    “So some pleasure too,” he said with a wink. It was indeed a trip brimming with passion and pleasure as I travelled from Agrigento’s magnificent valley of the temples to stone villages high in the Apennine mountains. On Good Friday in Trapani I was swept into the drama of the 24-hour procession of “mysteries” commemorating the passion of Christ. On Easter Monday, I climbed the mountain overlooking the town to Erice's ancient temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love.                                                                                                                                                                                            

    Spring-green Umbria offered passions of a different sort. In Perugia's Studio Moretti Caselli, a museum as well as a workshop, Maddalena Forenza follows the tradition of five generations of master glass painters.  Across town in a restored church,  Marta Cucchia of Giuditta Brozzetti (right) weaves cloths of timeless beauty on a centuries-old loom. Maurizio Tittarelli Rubboli displays his family's acclaimed designs and forges modern ceramics in the Museo Opificio Rubboli in the postcard-pretty village of Gualdo Tadino. In her home "laboratorio" outside Perugia,  Luisa Spagnoli, whose great-grandmother founded Perugina chocolate, creates sublime confections that elevate candy-making to a delectable art.  

At Rome's La Sapienza university, archaeologist Clementina Panella showed me long-buried treasures -- statues, vases, urns, even an imperial head (in photo) -- uncovered in thirty years of excavations on the Palatine Hill. "We have been digging in a very important area that had never been explored before," she says, "so we've come upon one discovery after another." (You can support her quest to explore Rome's earliest days  by contributing to LoveItaly's crowd-funding campaign.)

Ancient Rome comes alive in a different way on the backlot of Cinecittà, which I toured with the endlessly resourceful Barbara Lessona of Contessa Concierge, who specializes in making Rome feel like home for every client. Thanks to her, I met the daughter of the coppia reale (royal couple) of the golden era of “Hollywood on the Tiber”: director/producer Dino De Laurentiis and actress Silvana Mangano. Veronica De Laurentiis, actress and mother of celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, has become an international champion for women who’ve suffered domestic abuse.

    I extend appreciation and admiration to the other talented artisans I met, including ceramist Maria Antonietta Taticchi of Perugia's Materia Ceramica; cioccolataio Giordano Mangano of Augusta Perusia; the cloth-makers of TelaUmbra in Città del Castello; and jeweler Francesca Trubbianelli of Raku Ceramic Workshop. Many thanks to the outstanding guides who shared their love for their regions, particularly Lorenzo Capraro of Agrigento Experience and Daniela Paci of AltraUmbria, as well as my gracious hosts at Villa Athena in Agrigento, Badia Nuova in Trapani, Hotel Sina Brufani in Perugia and Margutta Glamour Studios in Rome. Grazie di cuore to Andrea, Crescenzo and Simone D’Ambrosio of Pallenberg Bros. Travel, who always take the best possible care of our family, and to their colleagues at La Mattina Travel (with special thanks to Claudio and Pina) in Sicily and Autonoleggio Spigarelli in Umbria.

    Upcoming posts will focus on words and expressions I've picked up along the way.  However, the experiences did far more than expand my vocabulary: They enriched my appreciation of Italian creativity, tradition and passion.  If you travel to Italy in the coming months, by all means, visit the famous monuments and museums. But I urge you also to seek out local artists and artisans, who embody the living heart of Italy. To get started, check out Italian Stories, a website that lists tours and workshops by region and craft, and Articity, which features artisans in Perugia.  Buon viaggio!

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language and MONA LISA: A Life Discovered.  

 

Happy Birthday to Rome!

Roma

The eternal city celebrates its official birth on April 21, 753 B.C. but you can find traces of Rome's long life everywhere in the city, including on the tops of manhole covers, which are emblazoned with S.P.Q.R., the ancient Latin abbreviation for Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the Senate and People of Rome." Contemporary Italians irreverently joke that the initials really stand for "Sono pazzi questi romani." ("They're crazy, these Romans.") If so, they're crazy in the best possible way.  

Rome changed everything, bringing civilization -- laws, roads, urban planning, public works, even indoor plumbing—to a vast swath of territories. You can learn both history and vocabulary just by walking its streets. Via Condotti, lined with elegant designer shops, was named for the aqueduct, or conduit, built in 19 B.C. to carry "acqua vergine" (virgin water) from a spring in the Alban hills south of the city. According to legend, a local young girl led Roman soldiers to the site—a discovery that the parched city celebrated for 59 days. 

To get a sense of Roma's early days, visit the Palatine Hill, one of the seven Roman hills, late in the day when the crowds are usually at a manageable size. Walk among the ruins of the grand imperial residences that came to be known as palazzi signorili—the root of the word for a "palatial" building in French (palais), Spanish (palla) and English (palace). You'll also get a great view of modern palazzine (little palaces), Italian for apartment buildings.

Italians describe Roma as "la città delle fontane," with hundreds of water-spouting sculptures. In front of La Scalinata (the Roman term for what tourists call the Spanish steps), Pietro Bernini built the fountain "La Barcaccia" (a large boat with oars used to transport wine barrels in ancient Rome), designed to recall the floods of 1621, when the Tiber overflowed and left the wreck of a battered boat in its wake. His son Gian Lorenzo Bernini's magnificent Fontana dei Fiumi (Fountain of the Rivers) decorates Piazza Navona, which may be Rome's most beloved public square. 

To meet a romano de Roma (dialect for a true native), go to the nearby Piazza di Pasquino. There stands an ancient statue dug up by street workers around the turn of the sixteenth century. In celebration of the feast of San Marco on April 25, 1501, a cardinal draped a toga around the armless torso and attached Latin epigrams to its base. Jocular Romans followed suit, covering this unofficial community bulletin board with anonymous satiric jibes that lampooned church and state. The "talking statue" hasn't been quiet since.

If you go out with friends in Rome, you might suggest fare alla romana or "going Dutch." Or ask a romanista, a fan of the Rome football (soccer) club, how the leoni giallorossi got their name. (It's from the giallo oro, golden yellow, and rosso porpora, crimson red, of ancient Rome).  

Here are some other modi di dire romani (Roman sayings) to listen for on your next trip to the eternally fascinating city:

Roma caput mundi --  Rome, center of the world, a Latin expression used by writers since the days of Cicero

Tutte le strade portano a Roma -- All roads lead to Rome

Roma non fu costruita in un giorno -- Rome wasn't built in a day

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

In Pursuit of Italian Passions

Cari amici,

I'm delighted to announce an exciting new project: a book on the alluring subject of Italian passions. Here is the official release from Publishers Marketplace:

"Author of the New York Times best-selling LA BELLA LINGUA, Dianne Hales' PASSIONE, a narrative look into how Italy's influence has resulted in the world's most celebrated art, food, romance, literature, and overarching cultural contributions, framed through Hales' expansive travel and a populist historical lens, to Crown Archetype (an imprint of Penguin Random House)."

This is how I introduced the concept in my proposal: "What surprises Italians most is that an American without a single drop of Italian blood has devoted so much time and energy to their culture. 'Sei proprio italiana!' (You are really Italian!), a Roman friend insists, arguing that I possess the most quintessentially Italian trait: la passione. But Italian passion has done far more than ensnare infatuated foreigners. It shaped one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known."

After delving deep into the history of Italian and the Renaissance world of the real Mona Lisa in my previous Italy-themed books, I relish the opportunity to immerse myself in every dimension of Italian culture — from wine to design to music and movies. I will be doing research both in the United States and in Italy over the coming year. If you have any suggestions for topics to include, people to interview, places to visit, etc., I'd love to hear from you at [email protected].

I also will be preparing an updated edition of LA BELLA LINGUA. Its audiobook version is in production and will be available later this year.

In the coming months, I will be working with Madiera James, my extraordinary designer and web maven at xuni.com, on a new website that will include all of my books and projects.  Because of time demands, I will be discontinuing my Mona Lisa blog but will include all aspects of Italian culture and life in my original blog at becomingitalianwordbyword.typepad.com (which has attracted more than 1,300,000 visitors since its creation in 2009!). 

 MONA LISA: A Life Discovered continues to add new adventures to its life. In the last few months it has appeared in more languages and countries. Here are the lovely covers for the Japanese, Danish and Polish translations:

Wherever you spend your summer, I hope you get a chance to relax, refresh—and pursue your passions.

Buone vacanze a tutti! 

Dianne

Celebrating Rome's Birthday in the Italian Language

Buon compleanno, Roma!

Happy birthday, Rome!

The eternal city (la città eterna) traces its birth to April 21, 753 BC. If you’re in Rome this week, you can enjoy the festivities, which typically include special events at the Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo), concerts, gladiator displays, a parade and fireworks over the Tiber (Tevere).

If I could be there, I’d head for the oldest part of Rome: the Palatine hill (colle Palatino), named for the goddess Pales, patroness of shepherds. In the eighth century B.C., the leader of a tribal settlement in central Italy ordered that the newborn sons of a disgraced Vestal Virgin be tossed into the Tiber. Their cradle, drifting downstream, washed ashore at the base of the Palatine hill.

According to legend, a lupa (she-wolf) suckled the twins Romulus and Remus (Romolo e Remo). However, lupa was slang for prostitute, and their nursemaid may well have been human. Several years ago archaeologists discovered what could be the original lupercale, the cave that sheltered the twins and that later served as a shrine for their worship.

After the boys had grown to maturity, they decided to build a new town. A violent argument erupted between them.  Romulus killed his brother Remus and gave his name to the settlement that would grow into a great empire.

Over the centuries the Palatine hill, with its tranquil setting and splendid views, attracted rich and powerful residents. Octavius, later adopted by Julius Caesar, was born on this sacred site in 63 B.C. When the Senate proclaimed him Augustus, Rome's first emperor, he moved to a house near the small structure known as Romulus's hut.

His successors, the emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius, built much grander homes atop the Palatine. Visitors to these mansions called them palazzi—the root of the word for "palatial" residences in French (palais), Spanish (palacio) and English (palace).

Rome changed everything, bringing civilization -- laws, roads, urban planning, public works, even indoor plumbing -- to a vast swath of territories. The glory of ancient Rome faded, but its citizens endured. Descendants of the empire’s tough-fighting, rough-talking legions, i romani doc (Romans born and bred), also referred to in Roman dialect or romanesco  as “romani de Roma,”  invented their own dialect slogan: “Lassatece passà, semo romani!” (Let us pass; we are Romans!) The imperious words were so often followed with a punch or a dagger thrust that a native son wasn’t considered a true Roman until he had “crossed the step”--the one at the door of the city’s oldest prison, Regina Coeli.

The imprint of ancient Rome remains on everything from coins to monuments, tombs and temples. The city’s manhole covers are still emblazoned with S.P.Q.R., the Latin abbreviation for the Senatus Populusque Romanus, the senate and people of Rome. Italians joke that it really stands for "Sono pazzi questi romani." (These Romans are crazy.)

Words and Expressions

Roma non è stata fatta in un giorno –- Rome wasn’t built in a day

Pagare alla romana / fare alla romana — to go Dutch or split the bill

Tutte le strade portano a Roma -– all roads lead to Rome

Roma caput mundi -– Latin for Rome, capital of the world.

Paese che vai, usanza che trovi –- When in Rome, do as the Romans do. (Literally, the country that you go to, the customs that you find.)

Dianne Hales is the author of MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

Click below to enjoy a classic tribute to Rome:  

 

007 in the Italian Language

James Bond in Italian

British secret agent 007 (zero-zero-sette) never called himself Giacomo Legame, the Italian translation of his name. “Mi chiamo Bond,” the actor Sean Connery and his suave successors declared in perfectly dubbed Italian, “James Bond.”

Spectre, the newest film in la serie più longeva della storia del grande schermo (the longest running series in the history of the big screen), opens this week.  Un misterioso messaggio (a mysterious message) leads  James Bond on a mission che lo porta da Città del Messico fino a Roma (that carries him from Mexico City to Rome) in pursuit of una misteriosa organizzazione (a mysterious organization) called Spectre.  

A new M, played by Ralph Fiennes, continues a combattere le pressioni politiche che minacciano l'MI6 (to combat the political pressures that menace M16). But Bond understands that l'unico modo per fermare la cospirazione  (the only way to stop the conspiracy) is to protect la figlia del suo acerrimo nemico (the daugher of his old enemy). 

An Italian beauty costars with Daniel Craig as the latest (and, at 51, the oldest) "Bond girl."  Monica Bellucci plays la vedova di un criminale ucciso da Bond (the widow of a criminal killed by Bond). 

Le avventure di 007 (the adventures of 007) in the ventiquattresimo capitolo della saga di James Bond (24th chapter of James Bond's saga) ultimately lead to la città eterna (the eternal city). There the effetti speciali (special effects) include un rocambolesco inseguimento di auto (a high-speed car chase) along the Tiber, which culminates with la caduta di un'auto nel fiume e un salvataggio con un elicottero (an auto falling into the river and a helicopter rescue).

The Bond films have long captivated Italians. Like James Bond’s name, some titles——such as Goldfinger and Goldeneye—were never translated. Others took on Italian names:

*Operazione tuono (Thunderball)

*Si vive solo due volte (You Only Live Twice)

*Al servizio segreto di sua maestà (In Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

*Mai dire mai (Never Say Never)

*Una cascata di diamanti (Diamonds Are Forever)

*L’uomo dalla pistola d’oro (The Man with the Golden Gun)

*La spia che mi amava (The Spy Who Loved Me)

*Operazione piovra (Octopussy)

*Solo per i tuoi occhi (For Your Eyes Only)

*Dalla Russia con amore (From Russia with Love)

*Vivi e lascia morire (Live and Let Die)

*Licenza di uccidere (License to Kill)

Just as in English, translated lines of dialogue from Bond movies have entered the mainstream,  including this exchange (scambio) from Goldfinger:

Bond: "Si aspetta che io parli? "(You expect me to talk?)

Goldfinger: "No, mi aspetto che lei muoia." (No, I expect you to die.)

And of course, there is Bond's signature cocktail preference:

“Un Martini, semi-secco, agitato non mescolato.” (A Martini, semi-dry, shaken not stirred.)

Words and Expressions

Il ruolo — the role

La comparsa –- background actor, walk on

La controfigura – body double

Il protagonista –- main character

La trama del film –- the movie plot

Colpo di scena –- plot twist, dramatic turn of events

Scena finale –- final scene

Dianne Hales is the author of MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and  LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Click below to see the Italian trailer: