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Italian Word of the Day: Cervellotico (bizarre / illogical)

February 13, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

The adjective cervellotico in Italian translates in numerous ways including bizarre, illogical, irrational or odd. It can describe bizarre people, as well as things that don't correspond to the truth or aren't founded on reason. Because it is an adjective, the ending changes according to the gender and/or plurality of the subject. For example: Masculine un racconto cervellotico (a bizarre … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Cervellotico (bizarre / illogical)

Filed Under: Adjectives, Advanced, Italian Word of the Day Tagged With: bizarre, cervellotico, illogical

Italian Word of the Day: Nottambulo (night owl)

February 9, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

If you are a person who is habitually wakeful or active at night, you might receive the nickname nottambulo which is the word for night owl in Italian. In particular, it indicates those who tend to spend the night walking or enjoying themselves in public places. It is a combination of the Latin words nox noctis (night) and ambulare (to walk), and is modelled on the word funambulus (tightrope … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Nottambulo (night owl)

Filed Under: Adjectives, Advanced, Italian Word of the Day, Nouns, Sleep Tagged With: night owl, nottambulo

Italian Word of the Day: Intramontabile (timeless / everlasting)

February 2, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

A wonderful Italian word I love throwing into conversation at every opportunity is intramontabile (plural: intramontabili) which is an adjective meaning timeless, everlasting, enduring, immortal or evergreen. Note that the e/i ending (singular/plural) doesn't change according to the gender of the noun. It derives from the verb tramontare meaning to set (as in the setting of the sun). The prefix … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Intramontabile (timeless / everlasting)

Filed Under: Adjectives, Advanced, Italian Word of the Day Tagged With: everlasting, intramontabile, timeless

Italian Word of the Day: A crepapelle (to the point of bursting)

January 30, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

Crepapelle, or more specifically a crepapelle, is one of those Italian expressions that does not have a direct English equivalent. Comprising the words crepare (to crack / to die) and pelle (skin), it describes various actions that are carried out to the point of bursting or to the breaking point. The best way to understand how it is used is to memorise the set idiomatic expressions in which … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: A crepapelle (to the point of bursting)

Filed Under: Advanced, Adverbs, Italian Word of the Day Tagged With: a crepapelle

Italian Word of the Day: Attonito (astonished)

January 28, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

One way of saying astonished, speechless or shocked in Italian is attonito. Being an adjective, it also has a feminine form (attonita), as well as masculine and feminine plural forms (attoniti and attonite). The word has an interesting origin according to Treccani. It comes from the Latin attonitus which itself is a derivative of the verb tonare (to thunder). The association between … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Attonito (astonished)

Filed Under: Adjectives, Advanced, Italian Word of the Day Tagged With: astonished, attonito

Italian Word of the Day: Intrippare (to stuff oneself / to obsess)

January 15, 2021 By Heather Broster Go to Comments

Last night at the dinner table, our six month old son - who usually has the attention span of a goldfish - spent the entire duration of our meal fixated on a stuffed toy horse, analysing every hoof, hair and marking on its colourful body. To describe this kind of behaviour, there is a great verb in Italian: intrippare. Now if you look the verb up in authoritative dictionaries like … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Intrippare (to stuff oneself / to obsess)

Filed Under: Advanced, Food, Italian Word of the Day, Verbs Tagged With: intrippare, obsess, stuff, to obsess, to stuff oneself

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