Heather Broster
Today’s phrase is part of our Italian Christmas Word Advent Calendar series. Each day throughout December, we’ll post a word or phrase that is related to the holiday season. Enjoy! Americans greet one another with Merry Christmas! whereas the British tend to prefer Happy Christmas! but what about Italians? The Italian Christmas greeting you will hear most …
The word for eve in Italian is vigilia (feminine, plural vigilie) and Christmas Eve is known as la vigilia di Natale. Alla vigilia di Natale, gli abitanti del villaggio si recano in chiesa. At Christmas Eve, the inhabitants of the village go to church. Interestingly the Italians also have a specific term for the day …
Christmas is just days away, so it’s high time we mentioned the big man himself: Santa Claus, otherwise known as Babbo Natale in Italian! The word babbo (masculine, plural: babbi) is another term for father and is popular in certain regions of Italy such as Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, Marche and Sardegna. The closest translation in …
Today’s word of the day is part of our Italian Christmas Word Advent Calendar series. Each day throughout December, we’ll post a word that is related to the holiday season. Enjoy! It is said that the Santa Claus lives is in an unspecified place at or near the North Pole, which is known as Polo Nord in …
The Italian word for cookie is biscotto (masculine, plural: biscotti). As you probably guessed, it shares the same origin as the word biscuit. The custom of leaving milk (latte) and biscotti for Santa Claus and his reindeer comes from Germany, where it was once customary to decorate the tree not with decorations but with apples, …
The key to perfect gift wrapping is the paper. If you can measure a paper that’s the ideal size for whatever present you’re wrapping, you’re good to go! (And of course, a little patience goes a long way as well!) The word for the verb to wrap in Italian is impacchettare. It is fairly easy …