At some point in our lives, we all end up blaming or criticising ourselves for something we have done, or perhaps should have done. In Italian, there is a very suitable idiomatic expression you can use to express this sentiment: mangiarsi le mani. mangiarsi le mani Mangiarsi le mani literally translates to “to eat one’s …
If you’re facing the wind or standing on the side of something that is exposed to the wind, you are described as being “windward” in English – for example, the windward side of a boat. In Italian, this concept is translated as sopravvento (sopra “above” + vento “wind”), which is also featured in a common …
Whenever you narrowly manage to do something or just miss something, you can use the Italian idiomatic expression per un pelo, which literally means for a hair. Some possible English equivalents include by the skin of one’s teeth or by a hair’s breadth, but more often than not, we use simple adverbs such as nearly, …
An Italian idiom I learned from my husband early on in our relationship is arrampicarsi sugli specchi, which literally translates to climbing on mirrors. (And yes, before you ask, this is something of which I am guilty at times!) arrampicarsi sugli specchi to make desperate excuses to justify oneself or a situation Figuratively, it refers …
Imagine a workplace scenario where there’s a looming deadline, and everyone is scrambling to finish a critical project. However, one employee – let’s call him Marco – is sitting at his desk, meticulously organising paperclips by colour. In Italian, you could metaphorically describe Marco’s engagement in a pointless and trivial activity as pettinare le bambole, …
A bastian contrario is a polemical individual who adopts opinions and attitudes that go against those held by the majority, so fare il bastian contrario can be translated as “to be contrary” or “to be a contrarian.” fare il bastian contrario to be contrary Before we take a look at the word bastian, which has …