Heather Broster
While watching the Italian Netflix drama Suburra, I couldn’t help but notice how many times the word impiccio (masculine, plural: impicci) came up in conversation, probably because the main characters always seem to be in a mafia-related bind of some sort! Impiccio can be translated in many ways in English including hindrance, mess, nuisance, trouble …
The word for sugar in Italian is zucchero (masculine, plural: zuccheri). It likely entered the language via medieval Latin from the Arabic word sukkar. Most people are familiar with the standard zucchero semolato (white sugar) or zucchero bruno (brown sugar) but there are also many other kinds of sugar in existence including: Ho usato lo …
A child who causes trouble in a playful manner can be called mischievous or cheeky, which in Italian translates as birichino (masculine). Although the etymology of the word is uncertain, it is thought to originate from the Emilian dialect and may possibly be related to the word briccone (rascal). The feminine equivalent is birichina, whereas …
If you are travelling around Italy and somehow manage to lose your way despite having invested in a reliable map and travel book, fear not – you can always rely on the tried and tested method of asking the locals for help! 😀 To inform someone that you are lost in Italian, you can use …
What do a wet dog, an overflowing garbage bin and mouldy blue cheese that’s been left in the fridge too long all have in common? They all emit a terrible puzza (feminine, plural: puzze), the Italian word for bad smell, stink or stench! If you’re having trouble committing this word to memory, I find it …
The word for crossroads in Italian is bivio (masculine, plural: bivi). Like the English equivalent, bivio has both a literal and figurative meaning. In the literal sense, it refers to the place where two roads meet, whereas in the figurative sense, it denotes the point at which a crucial decision, which will have significant consequences, …