50 Fun Italian Idioms with Body Parts

Ready to brush up your Italian anatomy vocabulary and learn some fun idioms? From head to toes, we have a whole body of funny expressions — literally! While the list is super long and couldn’t fit in one single article, I’ve picked 50 of the quirkiest ones for you. I guess the story behind #49 …

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Italian Word of the Day: Gusto (taste / flavour)

At its core, the Italian word gusto refers to the literal sense of taste. It plays a key role in our perception of flavours, working alongside our olfatto, or sense of smell, to create the full experience of taste. gusto taste / flavour Gusto is derived from the Latin gustus of the same meaning. Being …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pure (as well / but / even though / go ahead)

Today, we’re going to explore one of the most quintessentially Italian words: the adverb and conjunction pure. Like many words in this grammatical category, it has a broad range of translations in English, making it challenging to master in the early stages of learning the language. Let’s see if we can break it down and …

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Italian Word of the Day: Matita (pencil)

A tool that we use far less today due to the advent of the computer and keyboard is the humble pencil, known as a matita in Italian. matita pencil The word derives from the Latin lapis haematites, which refers to the hematite stone or pietra di ematite in Italian. Hematite ore was historically used for …

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Italian Word of the Day: Solito (usual / habitual)

Each of us has our own habitual routines, the things we do regularly, no matter what. In Italian, the word solito captures this sense of the usual and habitual things we do in life. solito usual Solito can be both an adjective and a noun in Italian, but in either case, the best translation tends …

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Italian Proverb: Chi dorme non piglia pesci (you snooze, you lose)

The famous Italian proverb Chi dorme non piglia pesci – which literally translates to “those who sleep don’t catch fish” – suggests that simply lounging around will get you nowhere. Just as a fisherman must remain vigilant to catch a fish when it bites, achieving success requires constant readiness and action. Chi dorme non piglia …

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