Any food that causes a burning sensation in the mouth when tasted can be called piccante, which is the word for spicy or hot in Italian. It comes from the French word piquant of the same meaning. The plural form of this adjective is piccanti. There is no distinction between masculine and feminine: it’s always …
Summer is the season for strawberries, which are known as fragole (feminine, singular: fragola) in Italian. Just as in English, the word refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. The common variety we buy from stores and markets tend to be grown in large strawberry fields (campi di fragole) by farmers and …
Someone who is determined not to change their attitude or position on something, no matter how right or wrong they are and regardless of the advice and opinions of others, is called testardo (stubborn) in Italian. It derives from the Italian word for head which is testa. Che ragazzo testardo! Con lui non si può …
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 …
In Italian, the word tempesta (feminine, plural: tempeste) refers to any violent storm and may be characterised by strong winds (venti forti), thunder and lightning (tuoni e fulmini), heavy rainfall (forte pioggia), ice (ghiaccio), or winds carrying sand (sabbia), snow (neve) or hail (grandine). There are numerous names and varieties of tempeste in the Italian …
Today’s word of the day was my favourite vegetable as a child: the humble carrot or carota (feminine, plural: carote) in Italian. Once you’ve washed (hai lavato) and peeled (pelato) your carrots, there are numerous ways to prepare them. I always preferred eating raw carrot sticks (bastoncini di carote crude) as a child but these …