Heather Broster
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, …
The word for backpack, knapsack or rucksack in Italian is zaino (masculine, plural: zaini). lo zainouno zaino gli zainidegli zaini It refers to any bag with shoulder straps, including those carried by hikers, soldiers, and school children. Non mi serve una valigia. Lo zaino è più che sufficiente. I don’t need a suitcase. The backpack …
The Italian word pietra (feminine, plural: pietre) can be translated as either rock or stone in English. It comes from the Greek word πέτρα (pétrē). As you can see from the two examples below, pietra is used to talk about both the compact mass formed by natural mineral substances, as well as the smaller fragments …