A slogan that went viral when Italy was dealing with an ever-increasing numbers of coronavirus cases was Andrà tutto bene! which translates as Everything is going to be all right! / Everything will be ok! in English.
It comprises three parts: andrà (future third person of andare ‘to go’) + tutto (everything) + bene (well, fine).
When the entire country was under lockdown, children and their parents prepared banners and artwork with this encouraging phrase in order to boost morale, show solidarity and spread a message of hope to their neighbours and the rest of the world.
Similarities have been drawn with the Chinese phrase jiayou, a ubiquitous expression of encouragement and support that began appearing on the streets following the initial outbreak in China.
Accompanying these words on almost every banner was another symbol of hope, the rainbow (arcobaleno), along with the hashtag Io (re)sto a casa (I’m staying at home). 🌈
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
