Adventures in the Italian Language 4

"Non ho capito"

The literal translation of this phrase is "I didn't understand." Italians use it a lot and, when you're a foreigner making shaky attempts to speak the language, it can be quite disconcerting. It took me a while to figure out that it's also used to mean "I didn't hear you," and when someone says it to you it doesn't mean your Italian was crap, it just means you need to repeat what you said.

This kind of thing is useful to keep in mind more generally when you're speaking a foreign language. Mistakes and misunderstandings happen for all kinds of reasons and often it's as much to do with the other person as it is to do with you!

Adventures in the Italian Language 3

Inspired by Jennie en France, I've been spending my Christmas holiday doing online language tutorials. (Christmas is not very exciting in my family. And Jennie, if you're reading this, your site is fantastic!)

Today I tested my level in Italian on the BBC website and then found their list of "cool Italian" phrases. It reminded me of one of my favourite slang expressions in Italian: che gnocco/a! Referring to an Italian man or woman as a kind of potato dumpling means, for some reason, that you find him or her very attractive.

Another one I liked was "limonare", which apparently means "to snog with passion." Something to do with puckering up your lips, perhaps.

And finally, I learned that a "scambio di lingua," which I have asked for several times in my search for foreign language conversation partners, has another, more literal meaning.

Going off the Rails

Seven people were injured when two trams crashed in Milan yesterday. Given the speed that the trams go at, this is quite an an achievement on the part of Lady Misfortune.

Trams and trains in Italy travel on binari or rotaie. When they come off, however, they are “deragliati”, which sounds a lot like “derailed” and was probably borrowed from English when the Brits were still better at running trains than the Italians.

My other new piece of vocabulary from yesterday was “pidocchio”.

Head louse.

I don't think I've got them yet and apparently there's a new kind of tablet you can take that makes your scalp unattractive to the wee beasties (it's not April, so it can't be a joke). Fingers crossed!

Adventures in the Italian Language

I have studied French for 11 years and lived in France for two years. Although I would describe my French as very fluent, I am only just capable of completing an “easy” crossword (as long as the book had answers in the back). I was very chuffed, therefore, when I realised the other day that there are already several things in Italian that I know at least two words for and I'm starting a list, partly so that I can boast about it and partly because, a few years down the line, it may help me to do crosswords as I lounge in a deckchair in my luxury Italian villa.


La cima/vetta – the top of a mountain (An insight into what I spend a lot of time doing?)
Sei matto/sei pazzo – you're crazy
Mi stufo/mi scoccio – I'm bored (Hopefully no insights into my life here!)

Some of my other new favourite words and phrases are:

Un riccio – a hedgehog, but also a chestnut shell

Mi vesto cipolla – I dress like an onion (ie with layers!)

"Sono un sacco di posers" (a quote from a friend) - “un sacco di” means “a sackful” or a lot. There is no word for “posers” in Italian, despite the fact that the country so desperately needs one.