Heather Broster
The word for book in Italian is libro (masculine, plural: libri), which comes from the Latin word liber. If you find it hard to remember, just think of the English word library! Before the Latin word came to mean book, it indicated the inner bark of some plants which, when dried, was used as a …
In these times of hardship, people around the world are searching for ways to show solidarity with Italy on social media. In English, the hashtag #WeStandWithItaly has gone viral, but so has its Italian equivalent #SiamoConVoi (siamo con voi) which translates as We are with you. Since many of you are probably unfamiliar with Italian …
The word for quarantine in Italian is the extremely similar quarantena (feminine, plural: quarantene). Although today it refers to an indefinite period of isolation for people or animals exposed to infectious or contagious diseases, it was originally a 14th-15th century Venetian word used to describe a precise forty-day (quaranta giorni) period of isolation for the …
A hashtag that has been trending on social media across all of Italy is #iorestoacasa (Io resto a casa). It was started in response to people going out and socialising despite the Italian government’s plea to perform social distancing and self isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. In English this phrase can be translated as either …
The word for uncle in Italian is zio (masculine, plural: zii). It comes from the Latin word thius and, as in English, is used to describe the brother of one’s mother or father, or the husband of one’s aunt (zia). Mio zio abita in Canada da dieci anni. My uncle has lived in Canada for …
A slogan that went viral when Italy was dealing with an ever-increasing numbers of coronavirus cases was Andrà tutto bene! which translates as Everything is going to be all right! / Everything will be ok! in English. It comprises three parts: andrà (future third person of andare ‘to go’) + tutto (everything) + bene (well, …