Heather Broster
Today, we’ll be delving into an idiom that I’ve been meaning to write about for quite some time, but only just remembered to jot down on my “to-do” list yesterday. This idiom is the delightful essere agli sgoccioli! Essere agli sgoccioli To be almost over / at the end Imagine when you take a sip …
There are three words I consistently use to describe my three-year-old son in Italian: birichino, monello and today’s word, birbone. birbone When birbone conveys the meaning dirty or underhanded, it almost always appears in the expression (giocare) un tiro birbone (to play a dirty trick). Mi hai giocato un tiro birbone. You played a dirty …
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 …
To describe someone who is deeply in love in Italian, you can use the word innamorato or innamorata. 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-. …