A child who causes trouble in a playful manner can be called mischievous or cheeky, which in Italian translates as birichino (masculine). Although the etymology of the word is uncertain, it is thought to originate from the Emilian dialect and may possibly be related to the word briccone (rascal). The feminine equivalent is birichina, whereas …
What do a wet dog, an overflowing garbage bin and mouldy blue cheese that’s been left in the fridge too long all have in common? They all emit a terrible puzza (feminine, plural: puzze), the Italian word for bad smell, stink or stench! If you’re having trouble committing this word to memory, I find it …
The word for crossroads in Italian is bivio (masculine, plural: bivi). Like the English equivalent, bivio has both a literal and figurative meaning. In the literal sense, it refers to the place where two roads meet, whereas in the figurative sense, it denotes the point at which a crucial decision, which will have significant consequences, …
The Italian word for smoke is fumo (masculine, plural: fumi). If you have trouble remembering this word, I’ve found that it helps to think of the English term fume which shares the same origin. Related to fumo is the verb fumare which means to smoke in both the transitive and intransitive sense of the word. …
The word for smile in Italian is sorriso (masculine, plural: sorrisi). It derives from the verb sorridere (to smile) which in turn comes from the Latin subridere, the combination of sub (under) and ridere (to laugh). Another way to say to smile besides sorridere is fare un sorriso – literally to make a smile. The …
If you are in a hurry to get from point A to point B, you may prefer to take a scorciatoia (feminine, plural: scorciatoie) – the word for shortcut in Italian – rather than the long way around. The word is a combination of the verb scorciare, which means to shorten, and the instrumental suffix …