Saturday, January 21, 2012


Nobody loves pasta like the Italians and this is also reflected in some expressions such as: "Avere le mani in pasta", (literally to have hands in the dough,) which is equivalent to "Something is in the wind." Another popular expression is: "Sono tutti della stessa pasta", (they're all of the same dough) meaning "They are all the same." I should add that the  Italians  have hundreds of names for pasta, such as: spaghetti, spaghettini, farfalle (butterflies ) but they look more like bow-ties, linguine,(little tongues), orecchiette (little ears) etc. I should add that some of the names don't sound too appetizing to foreigners, such as :capelli d"angelo (angel hair),capellini (little hairs), vermicelli (little worms), strozzapreti (priest-stranglers). Italians are also proud of their bread and use it as a standard of excellence when they say : "Buono come il pane", that is "To have a heart of gold."  If you say to an Italian that you have   20/20 vision he would stare at you as they use 10/10 vision (dieci decimi di vista.)
There is no lack of eccentricities in the Italian language, take the expression "Buona notte al secchio,"(Good night to the bucket) which corresponds to our North American phrase "We're screwed." For "gigolo" they use "cicisbeo", I love the sound of this last word (cheecheesbeo.)      If an Italian tells you "Sei una frana" (you are a landslide)he is actually saying that "You are hopeless." Here are a few short expressions that might have heard  or read: "Cocco di mamma,"(mummy's egg) for "Mummy's darling."For our "Goodness gracious!"they will say either "Mamma mia!" or "Madonna!"For the English word "Nipples"the Italians use a cozier word "Capezzolo." The Italian exclamation"Cavolo!"(cabbage) in my humble opinion is a better word than "Wow! and if you put che in front of it you get "Che cavolo?thus becoming more forceful and not as vulgar as the English "What the fuck?"
"How many of you know that "Bimbo"in Italian refers to a little boy "Bambino," while in English refers to an attractive and beautiful girl with a low IQ?      
  Smile until next time.