Heather Broster
Some Italian words look unmistakably Italian: just think of casa, mangiare, bellissimo. What makes them look Italian? Well, they all end in a vowel, for one! Other words, however, can catch you totally off guard because they don’t seem particularly Italian at all. Sometimes they even look more like English, French, or, as in the …
Lately, I have found myself dealing with “brain fog” more often than I would like to admit. We all know that la vita (life) has a funny way of piling things on, be that due to work responsibilities, bringing up kids, daily worries and decisions, and of course expectations which may or may not even …
Have you ever done something to benefit yourself, knowing full well that your actions could put someone else at a disadvantage? Or perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end of somebody’s selfish actions? Either way, there is a very appropriate expression in Italian to describe this way of behaving. tirare acqua al proprio mulino to …
There are certain phrases that seem to pop of my mouth almost without thinking. One of them is the typical line “What’s wrong?” And I probably say it most often to mio figlio (my son)! Sometimes it’s because he’s gone unusually silenzioso (quiet). Sometimes he’s come through the door looking abbattuto (despondent) after school. Sometimes …
There are a few “mild” Italian curse words that I would happily use in front of mia suocera (my mother-in-law) without feeling the slightest bit guilty, and mannaggia is definitely one of them! mannaggia darn / shoot / blast Mannaggia is an exclamation, or more specifically an interjection, used when someone is being annoying or …
I’ve never really understood why mothers-in-law get such a bad rap. Whilst living in Torino, my suocera gave me a place to live when I wasn’t earning enough to rent my own apartment, cooked for me when I got home late from work in the evening, and I would even say that she was solely …