There are few moments in life more satisfying than getting a lot while giving very little in return. You know the feeling: someone else is paying, the work is already done, the fridge is full, and somehow you’ve landed in the middle of it all thinking, Che bello! (How lovely!) Italians have a word for …
Perhaps it’s due to the heat, or the fact that I’ve hardly had a moment to breathe this entire summer between il lavoro (work), prendermi cura (taking care) of my son, and trying to find time to mantenermi in forma (keep fit), but lately I’ve been feeling more listless than usual and less enthusiastic about …
The Italian word parte has so many meanings! Let’s put it to the test with a sentence that fits three of them into just one line: Non voglio prendere le parti di nessuno, ma so benissimo da che parte parte questa critica. I don’t want to take sides with anyone, but I know exactly where …
Put together some basilico (basil), pinoli (pine nuts), fresh parmigiano and aglio (garlic), along with some olio d’oliva (olive oil), succo di limone (lemon juice), and sale (salt), and what do you get? One of the most delicious sauces on the planet: pesto! pesto pesto sauce / black and blue Pesto is also widely known …
Some words in Italian you will hear multiple times during the course of the day, and dopo is one of them. What’s more, it can function, not only as an adverb, but also as a preposition, conjunction, adjective and noun – talk about flexible! dopo after / later / next 1. DOPO as an adverb …
Italian has the perfect word to complain about everything: fastidio. A person walks slower than us on the sidewalk and won’t move to the side? Che fastidio. Someone chewing with their mouth open two tables away? Mi dà troppo fastidio. Those high heels that looked so cute in the store but are now destroying our feet? Uuuh, un …