The saying costare un occhio della testa (literally “to cost an eye of the head”) in Italian is used to refer to something that costs a lot of money. It draws a comparison between the irrecoverable and painful loss of an eye to the loss of a large monetary sum. Costare un occhio della testa …
In idiomatic expressions, it’s common for Italians to use the word zucca, which means pumpkin, gourd, or squash, to draw comparisons to human heads and brains. An example of such an idiom is “avere sale in zucca,” which translates literally to “to have salt in one’s gourd.” It is used to describe someone who is …
Imagine you visit a museum, expecting to pay around $20 per person for entry, but then you find out that it’s actually half-price admission that day. Or say that you don’t study for an exam, but still manage to pass with a good grade. In Italian, they might describe these kinds of situations using the …
Do you know someone who always speaks their mind, even if it means being brutally honest? In Italian, you can describe this kind of straight talker as “not having hairs on their tongue”: non avere peli sulla lingua. This idiom can be translated in a few ways including: Non avere peli sulla lingua To not …
La goccia che fa traboccare il vaso (literally “the drop that makes the vase overflow”) refers to the latest occurrence in a series of cumulative small, unpleasant events that unexpectedly triggers a significant and sudden reaction. La goccia che fa traboccare il vaso It is identical in meaning to the English idiom “the straw that …
When my young son is tired or bored, he has the tendency to orbit around me, endlessly repeating the word mamma, in an effort to grab my attention. By the hundredth repetition, I occasionally can’t resist thinking to myself, “Ma smettila di rompermi le scatole!” (Don’t worry, I never actually say this to him! 😀) …