Valentina Nicastro
Still staring at the map after the guy on the Italian weather forecast warned about a strong swirl of cold air coming from la Manica, and you have no idea where that is? Read on to find out! manica sleeve / bunch / English Channel 1. MANICA = Sleeve The word manica in Italian comes …
Why waste a whole sentence describing someone’s personality when one word can do all the job? Today I’ll introduce you to some of the most colourful Italian character types, from the people who kill the mood the second they walk in to chronic complainers and those who always, always know better. Forget vague descriptions – …
Buono (good), buonissimo (really good), non è buono (it’s not good)… these are all great words to know when commenting on food in Italian. But when we really love (or hate) what’s on our plate, we like to be a bit more creative and reach for expressions that, when translated literally, can sometimes sound pretty …
You are eating out with your Italian friends, then il conto (the bill) lands on the table and suddenly things get a little awkward. Who’s paying? Will you split it half and half? Or will everyone just pay for what they ordered? Here are five useful expressions to help you handle the moment smoothly. 1. …
Say you are meeting your Italian relatives after a long time. What’s the first thing you are likely to do? Most probably, comment on just how much time has flown since the last time you saw each other. Or maybe you were watching your little nephew, who went from toddler to teenager in what feels …
Say the word frizzante (fizzy, sparkling, bubbly) out loud: freet-TSAHN-teh. Don’t you feel those tiny bubbles almost popping on your tongue? That’s the beauty of certain Italian words: they express their meaning through the way they sound. I’ll share a few below. Some of these will make you laugh, others will make you want to whisper …