Heather Broster
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 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 …
Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando) and its prequel Orlando Inamorato (Orlando in Love) are two of the longest epic poems ever written in the Italian language. And they are packed with hundreds of characters, some of whom are so well-known and influential that their names have made their way into the Italian dictionary! One …
Is your child constantly bouncing off the walls, running on a seemingly endless source of energy? If this is the case, you can describe him or her as being “covered in quicksilver” in Italian. The exact idiom is as follows: avere l’argento vivo addosso to be fidgety / energetic / restless Argento vivo, literally translated …