Becoming Italian Word by Word

An Independence Day Bridge in the Italian Language

 
 il ponte
 the bridge

The Fourth of July may be the most American of holidays, but this year it provides an opportunity to do something very Italian: fare il ponte (make the bridge). This is no architectural construction but an extension of a national holiday that occurs during the week through the next weekend. Since July 4  falls on a Thursday, many of us are stretching il ponte over Friday for a four-day weekend.  

The descendants of Rome's famed acqueduct builders are masters of such creations. Depending on the calendar, Italians may enjoy a ponte di Capodanno (New Year's bridge), a ponte di Pasqua (Easter bridge), or a ponte dei morti (bridge of the dead) for the November 1 holiday of All Saints Day  (Tutti I Santi). For Ferragosto, the quintessential Italian summer holiday, il ponte may stretch even farther to include the weekends before and after August 15.

Workers, often in the civil service, who are particularly adept at extending a holiday are called, with some admiration, pontisti (bridge makers).  Others have a different talent:  fare i ponti d’oro  (literally making bridges of gold — making things as easy as possible). This strategy works especially well for getting someone you don’t like to leave. “A nemico che fugge, ponti d’oro,” Italians say. “To fleeing foe, bridges of gold!”

Italy is famous for other ponti, of course. The picturesque Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s oldest bridge, has housed goldsmiths’ and jewelers’ shops for centuries.  The Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) in Venice connects the Doges’ palazzo with the dungeons. It owes its evocative name to the sorrowful sound of prisoners who caught their last glimpse of La Serenissima through its windows as they headed to their cells. 

Every Spring Venice hosts a non-competitive run, open to everyone without age or nationality restrictions. The name of this traditional race is “Su e zo per i ponti,” which in the Venetian dialect means “up and down the bridges.”

Italian and English also share a common bridge-based expression. We look back and say, “Ne è passata di acqua sotto i ponti!"  or "A lot of water has gone under the bridges."  Less literally, the past is past, and many things have changed. 

Words and Expressions

ponticello -- small bridge

ponte levatoio -- drawbridge

ponte sospeso --  suspension bridge

tagliare i ponti con qualcuno — to cut (burn) one’s bridges with someone 

“finire a vivere sotto un ponte” -- to end up living under a bridge (to become extremely poor and end up without a home)

 

Honoring Fathers and Father's Day in Italian

 

In Italy La Festa del Papà  falls on March 19, the feast of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph), the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus. In the United States we celebrate  fathers on the third Sunday of June. I welcome any  chance  to honor the men we love so much--whatever the date and whatever we call them.

A father (padre) is a Babbo (Daddy} in Tuscany, Sardinia and several southern regions) but a Papà (pronounced pa-PAH) in other parts of Italy. The most famous Daddy of all is Babbo Natale (Father Christmas).  Il Papa (PAH-pa) is the pope or Santo Padre (the Holy Father), while God remains the eternal father (Padre Eterno or Padreterno).

The ties between fathers and children are strong. The English expression "like father, like son" translates as tale padre, tale figlio in Italian. Both fathers and grandfathers (nonni) have a long tradition of trying to fare da babbo a qualcuno (help or guide someone).

In the fifteenth century the esteemed  Cosimo the Elder, the Medici patriarch immortalized as  pater patriae  (father of the country), was meeting with foreign ambassadors at his palatial home. One of his grandsons came to him with some reeds and a small knife and asked him to make a whistle. Cosimo  broke off the conversation, fashioned a whistle and told the boy to run off and play. The ambassadors were indignant.

"Oh my brothers, are you not also fathers?" he laughed, "You marveled that I made him the whistle: it is well that he did not ask me to play it, for that I also would have done."

Fatherhood also implies authority. A padrone di casa is a landlord; a  padrona di casa, a landlady. Anyone can acquire  padronanza (mastery) and be  padrone di se (in control of one's self).

The master of the house, the owner of a business or the big boss is the  padrone. One of the pet phrases my husband has memorized to unfurl at the appropriate moment with Italian friends is Il padrone sono io, ma chi comanda è mia moglie. (I am in charge, but the person who gives the orders is my wife.)

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and LA PASSIONE: How Italy  Seduced the World. For more information,  visit diannehales.com.

 

Confessions of an Italian Appassionata

In a culinary academy in Florence, I asked an architect-turned-chef-turned-restaurateur about the passions that had changed her life: How did she know that she was choosing the right one?

“Ah, signora,” she replied. “We do not choose our passion. Passion chooses us.”

I understood. Italy chose me.

More than thirty years ago, shivering in a frigid Swiss station after a talk in Gstaad, I impetuously headed south to a sun-kissed country I’d never visited. I had no reservations, no itinerary, no inkling of what I might discover. The last thing I expected was to fall in love—but I did.

Day by day, sometimes hour by hour, Italy seduced me with tastes, sounds, scents, and sensations I’d never encountered before. At first, Italy’s symphony of chaos simply swept over me. As I returned year after year, Italy tugged me deeper into its explosive energy. Without realizing exactly how, I became appassionata, a word that dates back to the fourteenth century and translates as “swept away by passion.”

A few years ago I set off to discover the sources and secrets of la passione italiana, travelling north to the Dolomites and south to Sicily, from Sardinia’s rugged western coast to Venice’s labyrinth of canals. My explorations inspired La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World, a portrait more of a spirit than a nation.

Italians, born to the peal of church bells and the bite of pasta al dente (literally “to the tooth”), inhabit a more complex and confounding country than the one I’ve come to love. But my perspective enables me to notice what they may take for granted. In Parma, at the end of an interview with a young man named Stefano in — of all places— his family’s prosciutto processing plant, my guide, who had been listening nearby, walked over and hugged me. A bit taken aback by this unexpected gesture, I looked at him quizzically.

“La nostra bellezza!” (Our beauty!), he exclaimed. “You have seen what we cannot see because we live inside it. The things we Italians do— yes, it’s work, but you realize that what gives it meaning is passion. You didn’t ask Stefano what he does but what it means to him. And maybe for the first time in his life, he recognized that what he feels for this place, for this work, is passion.”

La passione italiana, I discovered, sprouts in all sorts of places, including crowded airports. In several I came across grand pianos—at first, I assumed only for display. Then I read the sign perched atop one: Suonami! (Play me!). Passengers, pausing as they slogged to and from airline gates, did just that.

While waiting for a flight from Rome to Palermo, I listened to a young girl tentatively finger the melody of “Volare.” Two teenagers giggled through a fast-paced pop song. Then a wiry, curly-haired man in his thirties stopped, took off his jacket, sat down, and launched into a sonata that stopped passersby in their tracks. Eyes closed, fingers never slowing, oblivious to flight announcements and the gathering crowd, he played with utter concentration, his music echoing through the crowded terminal.

I didn’t recognize the piece, but I knew what I was hearing: la passione italiana. And once again  I was swept away.

This post is adapted from LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World.  Dianne Hales is also the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language and MONA LISA: A Life Discovered. For more information, visit diannehales.com.

What is "la passione"?

“Of course, you are Italian,” a Roman friend insisted years ago, “You have something more important than blood: la passione.”

I accepted the compliment without fully comprehending its significance. Passion, after all, can bloom anywhere. Think of France, with its culinary cathedrals; Spain, with its bullfights; Argentina, with its tango—not to mention the millions of soulmate seekers pursuing passion online. Yet these pursuits now strike me as mere imitations. How could it be otherwise? The original, including the word itself, was made in Italy.

In the first century AD, newly minted Christians, constructing a vocabulary for their fledgling religion, chose the term passio for the agony that Jesus endured to redeem a world of sinners. Etymologists trace its roots to the Latin passus, past participle of pati (to suffer), inspired by the “sacrificio di Cristo e a quells dei prima martiri” (the sacrifice of Christ and that of the first martyrs).

Healers appropriated the word for maladies such as “passion of the liver”—a diagnosis that conjures an organ engorged with rage. Medieval writers—Dante foremost among them— recognized romantic love as una passione so compelling that it could not be resisted. The Renaissance extended the definition of la passione to any all-consuming quest, most often for beauty in its infinite variety. Romantics idealized the irresistible intensity of such ardor, even when it exploded into “crimes of passion.”

Although modern English-language dictionaries acknowledge the religious roots of “passion,” they define it as a state or an outburst of strong emotion, intense sexual love, or deep desire or enthusiasm. La passione is all these—and much more.

The Dizionario Affettivo della Lingua Italians (Emotional Dictionary of the Italian Language) describes la passione as a flammable material—volatile and dangerous. When it possesses you, it causes infinitesimal, voracious particles to pulsate in the blood. You risk burning like a torch, flaming bright, and then disintegrating into embers. When you are inside la passione, nothing else can enter your mind. When it flees, you search desperately for more.

Passion—and passion alone—lifts us above the ordinary. Without passion, there would be no literature, no art, no music, no romance, perhaps none of the wonders Italians have wrought. Beyond sentiment or emotion, la passione qualifies as a primal force of nature that cannot be ignored or denied.

You will find more--much more--about this fierce drive to explore, discover, create, pursue beauty, and love and live with every fiber of one’s being in my new book, La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World. You can preorder it here or find it wherever books are sold on April 16. 

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy  Seduced the World. For more information on her and her Spring book tours, visit her website: diannehales.com.

Cari amici, I will be moving my blog to my new website, along with a complete archive of my previous posts.  Click HERE  to subscribe (top of sidebar).  Note that if you are already subscribed (via e-mail) to my Typepad blog, your subscription will automatically transfer to the new blog.  However, if you subscribed via RSS, you will need to do so again (using the same link as above).  Thank you!

 

 

What do you say when an Italian wishes you "Good luck!"?

A guest post by Lucia de Zuani  

"In bocca al lupo" (in the wolf’s mouth) is a typical way that Italians wish someone "Good luck!"  How should you respond to this augurio?

Some say you should reply “Crepi!” (He can die!)  Others suggest “Grazie!”  Both are correct, but there are, in fact, two different interpretations.

In medieval times il lupo was considered the personification of danger and evil. The phrase "in bocca al lupo"  implied pulling away an evil influence. In this context, it would be correct to answer: "Crepi!" Its origins date back to an ancient custom in which  hunters wished each other successful and safe hunting.

The other explanation, which I definitely prefer, is more romantic and sweet. Here the wolf is not the malvagio (wicked) male but his sweet and protective companion. The femmina takes her piccoli (little children) in her mouth when she moves to a safe place any time she feels in danger. In this case the wolf does not represent an evil, but just the opposite. What about the she-wolf of Rome who fed the twins Romolo and Remo, saving them from sure death?

If we choose this explanation, we cannot reply "Crepi!" The little ones would be in danger if their mom died -- and who knows what Rome's destiny would have been? The most suitable answer would be "Grazie!" or even "Viva il lupo!"

Here are some other phrases and terms that use the word lupo:

Avere una fame da lupo -- to be as hungry as a wolf (horse in the English equivalent)

Lupo non mangia lupo -- a wolf doesn’t eat a wolf, meaning that there is honor among thieves and they don't turn on each other

Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio -- the wolf loses its hair but not its vice, meaning that it’s very difficult to change one’s nature

Chi nasce lupo non muore agnello -- one born a wolf does not die a lamb, meaning that someone  who was born stupid cannot die intelligent 

Cadere in bocca al lupo -- to fall in the wolf’s mouth (or an enemy’s hands), suddenly to find yourself in danger or in a difficult situation  

Gridare al lupo! -- crying wolf or calling for rescue when there is no real danger, being needlessly alarmist

Un tempo da lupi -- time of the wolves,  horrible weather

Lupo di mare -- a seasoned sailor who  knows everything about dangers at sea

Lucia de Zuani  offers homestay and personalized Italian lessons to students who live in her home in Piedmont as a member of the family. Learn more in this video.

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy  Seduced the World. For more information, visit her website: www.diannehales.com.

Cari amici, I will be moving my blog to my new website, along with a complete archive of my previous posts.  Click HERE  to subscribe (top of sidebar).  Note that if you are already subscribed (via e-mail) to my Typepad blog, your subscription will automatically transfer to the new blog.  However, if you subscribed via RSS, you will need to do so again (using the same link as above).  Thank you!

50 Romantic Phrases in the Italian Language

“How do I love thee?” Elizabeth Barrett Browning asked. She counted the ways in English, but the passionate Italophile may well have chosen Italian when she whispered words of love.  Why not? Like love itself, a dichiarazione d’amore (declaration of love) is lovelier in Italian.

Keep in mind that Italians reserve the words "ti amo" (I love you) only for the loves of their lives. Italian parents and children as well as boyfriends and girlfriends express affection with “Ti voglio bene,” which translates literally into “I want you well,” but conveys an entire universe of best wishes: “I want the best for you.” “I want all good things for you.” “I want what you want because I care so much for you.”

Here are some Italian phrases that may help you in the gioco dell’amore (game of love).

1. Sei la mia anima gemella -- You are my soulmate.
2. Ti penso ogni giorno -- I think of you every day.
3. Senza di te la mia vita non ha senso -- Without you my life makes no sense.
4. Vieni qui e baciami -- Come here and kiss me.
5. Sei il mio universo -- You are my universe.
6. Non posso vivere senza te -- I can’t live without you.
7. Ti voglio –- I want you.
8. Mi piace tutto di te –- I like everything about you.
9. Sono pazzo (pazza, if female) di te -- I am crazy about you.
10. Mi fai stare bene -- You make me feel good.
11. Siamo fatti l’uno per l’altra -- We are made for each other.
12. Sei irresistibile -- You are irresistible.
13. Mi sto innamorando di te –- I’m falling in love with you.
14. Mi rendi felice — You make me happy.
15. Sei l’amore della mia vita — You are the love of my life.
16. Ti adoro — I adore you.
17. Voglio stare con te per sempre — I want to be with you for always.
18. Ho bisogno di te — I need you.
19. Abbracciami — Embrace me!
20. Non potrò mai smettere d’amarti -- I could never stop loving you.
21. Sei la regina del mio cuore —You are the queen of my heart.
22. Sei il mio / la mia –- You are mine.
23. Voglio stare con te — I want to be with you.
24. Non posso più vivere senza te — I can’t go on living without you.
25. Voglio fare l’amore con te — I want to make love to you.
26. Sono tuo (tua) — I am yours.
27. Sii mio (mia) — Be mine!
28. Senza te non sono nulla —Without you I am nothing.
29. Sei il mio raggio di sole — You are my sunshine.
30. Voglio soltanto te — I want only you.
31. Tesoro mio — My darling!
32. Farei di tutto per te — I would do everything for you.
33. Mi manchi -- I miss you
34. Hai conquistato il mio cuore — You have won my heart .
35. Rimani sempre con me — Stay with me always.
36. Non lasciarmi mai — Never leave me.
37. Al cuor non si comanda -- You can’t rule your heart.
38. Siamo fatti l’uno per l’altra –- We are made for each other
39. Finchè morte non ci separi -- ‘Til death do us part.
40. Ti do il mio cuore  — I give you my heart.
41. Voglio invecchiare insieme a te — I want to grow old together with you.
42. Sei tutto ciò che voglio —You’re everything I want.
43. Resta sempre al mio fianco — Stay always by my side.
44. Voglio passare il resto della mia vita con te –- I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
45. Mi sono innamorata di te a prima vista –- I fell in love with you at first sight
46. Solo tu mi capisci — Only you understand me.
47. Ho trovato il paradiso nei tuoi occhi — I have found paradise in your eyes.
48. La nostra è una vera storia d’amore — Ours is a true love story.  
49. Mi vuoi sposare? -- Will you marry me?
50. Vivremo felici e contenti — We will live happily ever after.

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com.

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Astrology in the Italian Language

L’astrologia

Astrology

“What’s your sign?” (Di che segno sei?) The classic pick-up line may sound corny in English, but it can be a good conversation starter in Italy, where l'astrologia has been popular since the time of the ancient Romans. My Italian dictionary defines it as “un complesso di credenze e tradizioni, prive di fondamento scientifico, che ritiene che le posizioni e i movimenti dei corpi celesti rispetto alla Terra influiscano sugli eventi umani collettivi e individuali” (a complex of beliefs and traditions, lacking scientific basis, that holds that the positions and movement of celestial bodies in relationship to the earth influence collective and individual human events).

Here are the Italian names and some characteristics of the twelve signs of the Zodiac:

*Ariete (Aries), a fire sign (segno di fuoco). Individuals born between 21 marzo (March) and 20 aprile (April) are characterized by sincerità, impulsività e passione (sincerity, impulsivity and passion).

*Toro (Taurus), an earth sign (segno di terra). Those born between 21 aprile and 20 maggio (May) typically show la tenacia, la pazienza e l'attaccamento agli aspetti materiali dell'esistenza (tenacity, patience and attachment to material aspects of existence).

*Gemelli (Gemini), an air sign (segno d’aria). People born between 21 maggio and 21 giugno (June) are known for their l'apertura mentale, la capacità di comunicazione e l'intelletto spiccato (open minds, skill at communicating and keen intelligence).

*Cancro (Cancer), a water sign (segno di acqua). A person born between 22 giugno and 22 luglio (July) is often seen as lunatica, sensibile e romantica (moody, sensitive and romantic).

*Leone (Leo), a fire sign. Those born between 23 luglio and 23 agosto (August) are characterized by generosità, tenacia e fiducia in se stesse (generosity, tenacity and self-confidence).

*Vergine (Virgo), an earth sign. Individuals born between 24 agosto and 22 settembre (September) are known for la razionalità, la capacità di pensiero e un'intelligenza spiccata (rationality, capacity for thought and keen intelligence).

*Bilancia (Libra), an air sign. Men and women born between 23 settembre and 22 ottobre (October) strive constantly for equilibrio nei rapporti personali e interpersonali (balance in their personal and interpersonal relationships).

*Scorpione (Scorpio), a water sign. Individuals born between 23 ottobre and 21 novembre (November) have capacità intuitive e osservative (intuitive and observational ability) and un'intelligenza non comune (uncommon intelligence). They also are associated with la segretezza e il mistero (secrecy and mystery).

*Sagittario (Sagitarius), a fire sign. Those born between 22 novembre and 21 dicembre (December) are likely to be intelligenti, socievoli ed entusiasti (intelligent, sociable and enthusiastic).

*Capricorno (Capricorn), an earth sign. Someone born between 22 dicembre and 20 gennaio (January) may be characterized by notevoli tenacia, ambizione e onestà (remarkable tenacity, ambition and honesty)

*Acquario (Aquarius), an air sign. Individuals born between 21 gennaio and 19 febbraio  (February) are characterized by l'idealismo, l'amicizia e una mentalità aperta ed espansiva (idealism, friendship and an open and expansive mentality).

*Pesci (Pisces), a water sign. Those born between 20 febbraio and 20 marzo tend to be geniali, fantasiosi e altamente emotivi (genial, imaginative and highly emotional).

Words and Expressions

Astrologo -– astrologer

Astrologare -– to practice astrology, cast horoscopes, make wild guesses

Oroscopo –- horoscope

Ascendente –- rising sign, ascendant

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com.

 

5 New Year’s Resolutions in the Italian Language

I buoni propositi per l’anno nuovo

New Year's resolutions

Every January we take stock of the year just ended (fare un bilancio dell’anno appena chiuso) and resolve to do better (fare meglio) in the new year. Here are some popular resolutions for 2019. Do you have any to add?

1. Losing weight (dimagrire) 

Many of us want to lose the pounds (perdere i chili) we put on during the elaborate feasts (stravizi) of the holidays. Are you ready to mettersi a dieta (go on a diet) or iscriversi in palestra  (join a gym)?

2. Spending more time with loved ones (più tempo agli affetti)

Too often because of work commitments (impegni di lavoro) or constant rushing (fretta), we don’t take time to stay in touch with family members. Rather than put off a visit, keep in mind  how much they care about you (si preoccupano per voi).

3. Finding time for yourself (trovare del tempo per sé stessi)

Individuals of every age can enrich themselves personally (arricchirsi personalmente) by trying something new (provare qualcosa di nuovo). You might choose to learn a language (imparare una lingua)—my personal favorite—or take a photography course (fare un corso di fotografia).

4. Smiling (sorridere)

This simple gift costs nothing (qualcosa che non costa nulla) but yields a lot of satisfaction (procura molta soddisfazione). Give yourself a daily minimum number (un numero minimo)—perhaps three smiles (tre sorrisi) to start--and work up to five (cinque).

5. Doing the things we do not like (Impegnarsi a fare le cose che non ci piacciono)

There's probably some chore you do only under threat of death (sotto minaccia di morte), whether it’s washing the car (lavare l’auto) or cleaning up the kitchen (riordinare la cucina). Forget all the excuses (tutte le scuse) and give them a try (provateci). 

Whatever you resolve to do to improve yourself or your life in the coming year, here’s a word of encouragement: Forza!

Dianne Hales is the author ofLA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. Click here to preorder. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com

 

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Happy New Year in Italian!

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve as we know it was an invention of the ancient Romans. In 153 B.C. they moved the start of the new year from the Spring equinox to January 1 and dedicated the first month of the year to Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, who looks back toward the old year and ahead toward the new one. 

For six days, Romans celebrated by hanging lights, preparing lavish banquets and decorating their houses with boughs of greenery, including holly and mistletoe (considered magical plants because they bore fruit in the dead of winter). The Romans gave each other glass jars filled with dates and dried figs in honey so the new year would be sweet and full of good fortune. These offerings, called strenne from the Sabine goddess of prosperity, Strenia, were the predecessors of the presents we now exchange at Christmas. 

Italians refer to New Year’s Eve by its liturgical name, la Festa di San Silvestro, the feast of St. Sylvester, a fourth-century pope. Traditionally families and friends share a huge dinner called il cenone (the big supper). Lentils, symbols of prosperity because they resemble coins, are almost always on the menu, often served with pork, another symbol of the richness of life. 

Tuscans eat lentils with cotechino, a big pork sausage cut like coins. Italians in Bologna and Modena eat them with zampone, or pig’s trotter.  In Piedmont, rice symbolizes money, so a cenone is sure to include risotto. Raisins, another symbol for coins, appear in desserts throughout the peninsula. 

In a relatively recent tradition, couples give each gifts of red underwear—a color that wards off the malocchio (Evil Eye) and a symbol of love, prosperity and fertility. Traditionally Italians wear these special undies only once and throw them away after New Year’s Eve.

That’s not all that Italians toss out. In order to make room for the new, they once threw old brooms, dishes, even furniture out the window. Regulations now prohibit this dangerous dumping, but the practice continues in some parts of Naples and the South. 

After the evening feast, most Italian cities throw a big party under the stars with music, dancing and fireworks. Italy’s equivalent of Times Square in New York is the Piazza del Popolo in Rome. Huge crowds gather for an outdoor concert and a magnificent midnight fireworks display. The favored drink is spumante or prosecco, Italian sparkling wine, for a toast (brindisi) when the clock strikes twelve.

Whether public or private, il veglione di Capodanno (the New Year’s party) typically lasts all night. As they head home at the dawn of Capodanno (New Year’s Day), weary revelers watch the first sunrise—and look out for the first person they see in the newborn year. According to ancient traditions, an old man or a hunchbacked person carries good luck, while a child or a priest brings bad luck in the upcoming year. 

Words and Expressions 

Il conto alla rovescia -- the countdown to midnight (meno 10, meno 9, meno 8, meno 7 ...) 

I botti di Capodanno -- New Year’s firecrackers and fireworks 

“Anno nuovo, vita nuova” -- New year, new life (let’s make a fresh start)  

Dianne Hales is the author ofLA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. Click here to preorder. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com

 

Three Days of Christmas Feasts in Italy

Le Tre Feste di Natale 

The Three Christmas Feasts 

Most families in Italy begin celebrating il Natale on the evening of December 24 (la vigilia di Natale) with a big dinner. Because Christmas Eve is a vigilia di magro (a day of abstinence on which the Catholic Church prohibits the consumption of meat), the centerpiece of the meal is fish. 

The traditional choice is eel, a favorite of the ancient Romans that appears in the earliest known cookbook, written by a gourmand known as Apicius. This symbol of life and immortality was sold alive and wiggling, then beheaded, chopped and dropped into boiling water, spit-roasted, grilled, stewed with white wine and peas  or pickled in vinegar, oil, bay leaves, rosemary and cloves.

In some regions the Christmas Eve feast has seven courses (for the seven sacraments); others serve nine (the trinity times three) or thirteen (for Jesus and his twelve disciples). Some of the fish dishes include fritto misto with lemon (mixed fried fish), calamari or pasta with anchovies.  

Families may go to midnight Mass (la messa di mezzanotte) in their local church or watch the Pope’s televised outdoor Mass at St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. At midday on Christmas the Pope again appears on television to deliver his annual “urbi et orbi” message to “the city and the world.”

Il pranzo di Natale (the Christmas day meal) usually starts with a rich pasta, such as cappelletti in brodo, little hats stuffed with chopped meats, cheese, eggs or pumpkin. By tradition everyone is supposed to eat at least a dozen. Depending on the region of Italy, the main course may be capon, pork or turkey. 

Everyone saves room for the special dolci (sweets). Many of the original recipes were created by nuns who prepared special types of sweets as gifts for prominent clergymen and noble families. They include: 

     *cartellate -- curly ribbons of dough that symbolize the sheets on which the baby Jesus lay 

     *calzoncelli -- the pillows for his head 

     *latte di mandorla -- Virgin’s milk 

     *calzone di San Leonardo -- trousers of St. Leonard, which represent the cradle. 

Among the various types of holiday bread (pane) are pangiallo (a round bread crammed with fruits and nuts--an ancient symbol of fertility), panforte (a fruitcake-like specialty of Siena)  and panpepato (peppery and dark, somewhat like gingerbread). 

The most famous is the tall cupola-shaped panettone, with origins that date back to ancient Rome. The term derives from panetto (loaf of bread) combined with “one” (a suffix meaning large and pronounced “oh-nay”), although some claim its name comes from the Milanese expression “pan di ton” (luxury bread).  

After the meal, families play a game called tombola, similar to bingo, with dried beans as markers. Players win coins or small prizes for covering two numbers (ambo), three (terno), five (cinquina) or the entire card (tombola). In towns and cities many Italians have started a new Christmas day tradition: going to the movies. 

December 26 brings Prima Festa (first feast) and another big family meal to honor Santo Stefano (St. Stephen), the first Christian martyr, who was stoned to death for his beliefs. This day gave rise to an idiomatic expression -- da Natale a Santo Stefano (from Christmas to St. Stephen’s Day) — to describe a very brief period of time. 

Words and Expressions

Buone Feste -- Happy Celebrations/Holidays

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo -- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

I più cari auguri per un sereno Natale e per un anno nuovo ricco di soddisfazioni -- dearest wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a fulfilling new year 

I migliori auguri per il Santo Natale e per il 2019 -- best wishes for Holy Christmas and for 2019

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered  and the upcoming  LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. Click here to preorder. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com

Click below to listen to a beloved Italian Christmas song: