Heather Broster
C’era una volta… (literally ‘there was a time‘) is a stock phrase in Italian used as an opening line to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales for children. It is the equivalent of Once upon a time… in English. Let’s take a look at how this phrase breaks down into its …
The Italian adjective mite (plural: miti), which comes from the Latin mitis of the same meaning, has a number of English translations but in every case, it describes something that lacks severity or harshness. The first translation, mild or temperate, is mostly used to talk about the climate, weather or air. Il Regno Unito ha …
The word for a person who habitually tells lies is bugiardo in Italian. The feminine form is bugiarda whereas the plural forms are bugiardi and bugiarde respectively. It is a combination of the now-obsolete verb bugiare (to lie) and the suffix -ardo. (Note that the standard verb for to lie is mentire in modern Italian.) …
The original meaning of the word cucciolo (plural: cuccioli) in Italian was puppy but it has since expanded to include any type of baby animal. If you want to specify which kind of baby animal you are talking about, simply add the preposition di (of) plus the name of the animal after cucciolo. For example: …
An interesting verb in Italian that doesn’t really have a precise English equivalent is sgranocchiare which means to eat crunchy foods that crumble easily. Some possible translations in English include to munch, to crunch or to nibble but none of them truly encompass all facets of the word. It is a derivative of the verb …
The word squarciagola in Italian, when preceded by the preposition a (at), is the equivalent of the idiomatic English expressions at the top of one’s lungs or at the top of one’s voice. Note that there is an equivalent expression in Italian: a pieni polmoni (lit. with one’s lungs full). It is a combination of …