Heather Broster
Matto is one of many ways you can translate the word crazy into Italian. It is thought to come from the late Latin mattus, which means drunk, and later assumed the meaning of stupid before acquiring its current definition. Because matto is an adjective, the masculine singular ending –o changes to –a for the feminine …
Emozionato is one of those adjectives in Italian whose translation varies depending on the context in which it is used. However, in every case, it denotes a state of emotional upheaval, be it positive or negative. Used in a positive sense, it can translate as either excited or moved. For example: Luigi è molto emozionato …
If you happen to meet someone who simply doesn’t care about other people’s problems or the issues facing the world, they may be suffering from what is called menefreghismo in Italian (masculine, plural: menefreghismi). Sadly, there isn’t really a word-for-word translation for menefreghismo in English, which is a shame because we could definitely benefit from …
If you can imagine a dog sinking its teeth into your favourite pair of shoes and refusing to let go no matter how hard you pull, you are already halfway to understanding the meaning of the adjective accanito! Accanito itself derives from the word for dog in Italian, which is cane. It is used to …
The generic word used to indicate any woman, other than the mother, who takes care of a child is tata (feminine, plural: tate) in Italian. Some possible translations in English include babysitting, nanny and childminder. Usually, tata denotes a woman whose full-time profession is childminding, rather than a teenager or young woman who occasionally babysits. …
Do you want to talk about something truly worthy of praise? Then it’s time to learn the adjective eccellente, which is the Italian word for excellent! Eccellente‘s form remains the same regardless of whether you are describing a masculine or feminine subject. In its plural form, it becomes eccellenti with an -i on the end. …