Heather Broster
One way of saying coward in Italian is vigliacco (masculine, plural: vigliacchi). There is also the feminine version vigliacca and its plural vigliacche. For once, we have a word that doesn’t derive directly from Latin but rather the Spanish bellaco meaning wicked or vile. It refers not only to those who, for lack of courage, …
The Italian word for success is the similar sounding successo (masculine, plural: successi). Both words can be traced back to the Latin word “successus” of the same meaning. The expression avere successo (lit: to have success) translates as to be a success or to be successful. Although avere is by far the most common, you …
We all know that words are important for effective communication but sometimes the right word simply doesn’t come to mind at the right time! In situations like this, speakers of all languages tend to rely on what are known as filler words in English or riempitivi (fillers) or interiezioni (interjections) in Italian. These are seemingly …
Bislacco is one way of saying eccentric, weird or quirky in Italian. It is thought to derive from the Venetian bislaco, which in turn comes from the Slovene word bezjak meaning silly. It was a nickname given to the Venetians of Friuli and the Slavs of Istria. Because it is an adjective, the ending changes …
As I sit here writing this word of the day, I am looking out over the sea (mare), soaking in the sound and smell of the waves crashing against the shore. The Italian word for this phenomenon is onda (feminine, plural: onde), which derives from the Latin unda. Below are a few useful verbs that …
Fai con calma! is a frequently used Italian expression that usually translates as Take your time! or any equivalent expression that lets the other person know that there’s no need to hurry. It is made up of the following components: Fai con calma, non c’è nessuna fretta! Take your time, there‘s no rush at all! …