Heather Broster
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we want to share an Italian term that describes someone deeply in love: innamorato. It derives from the verbs innamorare (to enchant / make people fall in love with you) and innamorarsi (to fall in love), which in turn are derivatives of the noun amore (love) with the prefix in-. …
Have you ever had to endure a lengthy and convoluted explanation or discussion that left you feeling more confused than when you started? If so, you could aptly describe it with an adjective that’s just as much of a mouthful as the discourse it depicts: arzigogolato. Arzigogolato is an adjective that derives from the verb …
Have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to improvise a speech or speak off-the-cuff? If that sounds familiar, you might want to explore the expression a braccio, which directly translates to “by (the manner of) the arm” but is equivalent to the English expressions “off-the-cuff,” “ad-lib” and “improvised.” The term originates …
Have you ever wondered about the various ways to address a significant other in Italian? Much like English, where we use diverse terms from the casual “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” to the more committed “husband” and “wife,” Italian boasts a rich array of expressions. In this article, we delve into the myriad terms you might encounter …
The Italian word used to describe someone who is caring, attentive and thoughtful is premuroso. It derives from the noun premura, meaning attention or care, which in turn comes from the verb premere (which literally means “to press / push” but also has the figurative meaning “to matter / be of importance“). Since it is …
We already discussed mezzanotte (midnight) in a previous post, so now it’s time to take a look at the other end of the temporal spectrum, mezzogiorno (noon / midday). Mezzogiorno is the combination of the words mezzo (half or halfway) and giorno (day). It is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and …