Lately, I have found myself dealing with “brain fog” more often than I would like to admit. We all know that la vita (life) has a funny way of piling things on, be that due to work responsibilities, bringing up kids, daily worries and decisions, and of course expectations which may or may not even …
There are a few “mild” Italian curse words that I would happily use in front of mia suocera (my mother-in-law) without feeling the slightest bit guilty, and mannaggia is definitely one of them! mannaggia darn / shoot / blast Mannaggia is an exclamation, or more specifically an interjection, used when someone is being annoying or …
I’ve never really understood why mothers-in-law get such a bad rap. Whilst living in Torino, my suocera gave me a place to live when I wasn’t earning enough to rent my own apartment, cooked for me when I got home late from work in the evening, and I would even say that she was solely …
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 …