The Italian adjective spietato can be translated into English in various ways, ranging from cruel and ruthless to fierce and cutthroat. spietato ruthless / cutthroat It derives from the noun pietà (pity), to which the prefix s- has been added. This prefix adds a sense of negation or absence, transforming the word to convey the …
While it’s perfectly acceptable to use the word problema in Italian to talk about your issues, incorporating the term grattacapo will add a touch of fluency to your speech! grattacapo problem / headache / worry Grattacapo is composed of two words: the verb grattare (to scratch) and the noun capo (head). In other words, it …
In Italian, there’s no better exclamation to convey your relief than meno male. In English, it can be translated as thank goodness, or more casually, it’s like letting out a big sigh of relief – phew! meno male Meno means less whereas male means bad, so the expression literally means “less bad.” Domani non dovrebbe …
The Italian word for leap year is anno bisestile, which should be easy to remember if you are already familiar with the term bissextile year, a synonym for leap year. anno bisestile leap year The word bisestile is derived from the Latin term “bissextilis (annus)” or “bissextilis (annus),” meaning ‘the year of the bissextus,’ which …
Dissestato isn’t the kind of word you will come across in everyday Italian, but for those keen on expanding their vocabulary, it is one worth remembering. Because it is an adjective, the ending changes to correspond with the gender and/or plurality of the subject: First and foremost, it is used to describe things that have …
There are three words I consistently use to describe my three-year-old son in Italian: birichino, monello and today’s word, birbone. birbone When birbone conveys the meaning dirty or underhanded, it almost always appears in the expression (giocare) un tiro birbone (to play a dirty trick). Mi hai giocato un tiro birbone. You played a dirty …