Heather Broster
Here in Wales, where we live, it rains quite a lot, as you can imagine. But since today is a rare sunny day, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to dive into the ever-relevant Italian verb piovere (to rain)! piovere to rain Piovere is an -ERE verb that is only ever conjugated in the …
The word for a person (usually a king or ruler) who holds absolute power, and exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way, is despota in Italian. It comes from the Greek despótēs which was the word for the “master of the house”. In ancient Italian, the word ended in an -o rather than an …
Where we live in Wales, it feels like there’s a castle around every corner. But Italy, too, boasts its fair share of stunning castles, my favourite being Castel dell’Ovo in Naples! As you may have guessed, the Italian word for castle is castello. castello castle Castello is derived directly from the Latin castellum, which is …
Some words are staples of everyday conversation, and in Italian, dunque is one of them. dunque so / therefore / well Dunque is a conjunction, adverb and even a noun as we’ll discover further down. It originates from Late Latin dunc, which is likely a blend of dumque (meaning “while, at the same time”) and …
While listening to Radio Italia, a word caught my attention during a report about how Germans no longer embody the Protestant work ethic as strongly as they did just a few years ago. That word was stacanovista—the Italian term for a workaholic. stacanovista workaholic / hard worker This word derives from the noun stacanovismo (or …
Imagine you’ve got a 40th birthday party to plan. You handle the decorations, order the perfect cake, coordinate with friends and family, prepare the guest list, and even organise a karaoke evening and a DJ—all while juggling your usual responsibilities. (And, yes, I am speaking from personal experience!) This kind of dedication is a perfect …