Heather Broster
In English, there are separate words for different kinds of careless marks made while writing or drawing. We have blot for a dark stain made by ink, scrawl for illegible handwriting, scribble for something written or drawn in a hurry, and doodle for a poorly drawn picture. In Italian, all these concepts can be expressed …
The Italian word granchio, which means crab, comes from the Latin word cancer of the same meaning. It is from this Latin word that we also get the medical term cancro (cancer), since it was thought at the time that the swollen veins surrounding cancerous tumours resembled the limbs of a crab. This association also …
The word chicco (masculine, plural: chicchi) in Italian primarily describes the grain from certain cereals. Some examples of chicchi include: Il mugnaio produce la farina macinando i chicchi di grano. The miller makes flour by grinding wheat grains. However it may also be used to talk about seeds from other plants including the coffee bean …
Last year we taught you how to say the traditional holiday greeting Buon Natale! (Merry Christmas!), so this year we’re going with something a bit different! The Italian for Christmas is here! is Natale è arrivato! which literally translates as Christmas has arrived! It is made up of the following components: Natale >> The word …
Although the word alba (feminine, plural: albe) in Italian can translate as either dawn or sunrise in English, it is technically closer in meaning to the former because it denotes the first appearance of light in the sky as night transitions to day. It comes from the Latin alba, which in turn derives from the …
The Italian word for someone who is very hard to please, especially when it comes to food and drink, is schizzinoso. Possible English translations include picky, fussy or finicky. It may also describe a person who is intolerant of people, things, or manners he or she considers vulgar. The word is thought to derive from …