Heather Broster
When my son puts on his wellies, the first thing he does is look for a muddy puddle to jump into, just like his favourite character, Peppa Pig! The Italian word for mud is the fittingly sounding fango. It is derived from the Gothic term *fanigs, meaning muddy. Because it is a masculine noun, it …
The other day at the park, a man allowed his leash-less dog to bound up to my three-year-old, and had the nerve to tell me to keep an eye on my child (who was holding his grandmother’s hand at the time). Did I lose my cool? No, but I was *this* close! When you reach …
We often get asked at Daily Italian Words: does the word perché mean because or why in Italian? The answer to that is: both! perché Perché is made up of two words: per (for) and che (that). It can function as an interrogative adverb, allowing you to ask the question why, or as a subordinating …
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 …