Heather Broster
One of the first phrases travellers wish to learn when visiting a foreign country is the local equivalent of the classic greeting: Hello, how are you? In Italian, just as in English and many other languages, there are a few variations on this greeting. Which you use greatly depends on your own personal style and …
Figlio is the word for son in Italian. It derives from the Latin filius and is related to words such as femmina (female) and fecondo (fertile). It can also refer more generically to a child if the sex is unknown (as in the case of an unborn child for example). The plural figli can mean …
Last night at the dinner table, our six month old son – who usually has the attention span of a goldfish – spent the entire duration of our meal fixated on a toy horse, analysing every hoof, hair and marking on its colourful body. To describe this kind of behaviour, there is a great verb …
The word for masterpiece or best work in Italian is capolavoro (masculine, plural: capolavori). It is the combination of the words capo (head / extremity) and lavoro (work / job). Traditionally capolavoro refers to the very best piece of work by an artist or a writer, or of a particular era or style. Some examples …
Spicciolo is the word for loose / spare / small change or coins in Italian. It derives from the verb spicciolare which means to pick off or to change (a sum of money) into (a different currency or denomination). spicciolo loose change / coin It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and …
Senno di poi is how you would say hindsight in Italian. As in English, it refers to the ability to evaluate or comprehend an event, but only after it has happened. senno di poi hindsight The masculine noun senno means judgement / sense / wisdom, whereas poi is the word for then / later on …