What Does “Boh” Mean in Italian?

In the movie Spiderman: Far From Home, protagonist Peter Parker and his classmates travel to Venice where they are unexpectedly attacked by the Water Elemental. But before the chaos ensues, Peter’s love interest MJ tells him that she’s learned “the most perfect word in the world” while exploring the city – and this happens to …

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Italian Word of the Day: Vergogna (shame / disgrace)

Vergogna (feminine, plural: vergogne) is a very useful Italian noun that translates as shame, disgrace or embarrassment in English depending on the context. Below are a few common verbs you’ll see is the company of vergogna: sentire / provare vergogna = to feel shame (non) conoscere la vergogna = to (not) have a sense of …

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Italian Word of the Day: Maleducato (rude / impolite)

There is a great Italian word for someone who eats with his mouth open, talks back to his parents, and disturbs other people by making too much noise, and that is maleducato. Maleducato translates into English as rude, impolite or ill-mannered and may refer to a person’s speech or behaviour. A volte quel ragazzo è …

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Italian Word of the Day: Maledizione (curse)

Italian word for 'curse'

The word for curse in Italian is maledizione (feminine, plural: maledizioni). It is composed of two parts: male (meaning bad or evil) and dizione (meaning diction or speech). Related to the noun is the verb maledire (lit: to say bad) which means to curse or to damn. Another more complex way of saying the same …

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The Italian Word for “Hiccup” – Singhiozzo

Today’s word of the day is something extremely annoying and sometimes quite hard to get rid of: the hiccups (also spelled hiccoughs) which in Italian translates as singhiozzo (masculine, plural: singhiozzi). It comes from the verb singhiozzare meaning to hiccup (when referring to a human being) or to go by fits and starts (when talking …

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Italian Idiom: Fare la scarpetta (Using bread to soak up sauce)

Scarpetta in Italian is the diminutive of scarpa, the word for shoe or boot. It refers to any small shoe including a child’s shoe, a small and elegant shoe that ladies wear, or a flat sports shoe made of light and flexible material such as canvas or rubber. The idiomatic expression fare la scarpetta (lit: …

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