An idiomatic expression that came up multiple times during our latest Vero Viaggio immersion trip in Torino was prendere in giro, which means to tease, to make fun of someone, or to pull someone’s leg in Italian.
prendere in giro
to tease / make fun of
This idiomatic expression evokes the image of spinning someone around – hence the use of the noun giro (turn / spin) – or running circles around them, causing them to lose their bearings. Giro itself derives from the Latin gyrus (circle / turn) and the Greek gyros (curved / round), a word you should recognise if you love Greek food as much as I do!
In this case, the verb prendere, which means to take, isn’t being used in the physical grasping sense, but rather the figurative sense of adopting a teasing attitude.
Here are some tenses in which you’ll see it used:
- Mi prende in giro = He/she teases me
- Mi ha preso in giro = He/she teased me
- Mi sta prendendo in giro = He/she is teasing me
- Mi prendeva in giro = He/she was teasing me
I miei amici mi prendono sempre in giro.
My friends always tease me.
Compared to English, prendersi in giro has a slightly broader meaning in that it can also be used when you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly or dishonestly. For example, for the phrase mi sento preso / presa in giro, you might say I feel like I’ve been taken for a ride or I feel like I’ve been jerked around.
Si sente preso in giro dai dirigenti che cambiano continuamente il programma.
He feels like he’s being taken for a ride by the executives who keep changing the schedule.
You will also hear farsi prendere in giro facilmente, which means to make oneself an easy target for mockery.
As is the case with many expressions, prendere in giro has a vulgar equivalent – prendere per il culo – which can literally be translated as “to take by the ass.” You might also hear the euphemistic alternative prendere per i fondelli, which replaces culo with fondelli (small pieces of fabric used to reinforce worn-out areas at the bottom of a pair of trousers).
Below you can find even more alternatives, some of which are single verbs:
- prendersi gioco di qualcuno = to make fun of someone (gioco = game)
- farsi beffe di qualcuno = to make fun of someone (beffa = joke/prank)
- ridere di qualcuno = to laugh at someone (ridere = to laugh)
- canzonare = to make fun of
- corbellare = to taunt
- schernire = to taunt / mock / sneer
- dileggiare = to ridicule
- burlarsi di qualcuno = to make fun of someone / look down on someone
- deridere = to deride
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.
