Sometimes there are words you cannot help but fall in love with, and for me, the verb sdrucciolare is one of them. It sounds just like what it describes – the act of slipping and falling (or nearly falling) on a very smooth and slippery surface. sdrucciolare to slip / to slide Whereas the more …
The verb guidare is fairly intuitive; its prefix clearly mirrors the English ‘to guide.’ While that is one possible translation, there is plenty more to discover. Let’s take a look now! guidare Before we begin, it’s worth mentioning that guidare is an -ARE verb, making it fairly easy to conjugate. Here it is in the …
A curious fact about the noun ospite in Italian is that is has a double meaning – it can refer to either a guest or a host. This is because, in Latin, the word hospes, from which ospite derives, alluded to the “reciprocity of the pact of hospitality” – or in other words, the idea …
How does your colleague know you’re looking for a new job? Because your other colleague overheard a phone call. And how does half the office already know by lunchtime? Because news travels really fast when a ficcanaso is involved! ficcanaso Ficcanaso is a compound noun made up of two parts: the verb ficcare (to stick, …
From the 13th to the 16th century, men and women commonly wore light headdresses made of wool, cloth, or canvas, secured under the chin with laces. Over time, these evolved into a staple of women’s nightwear and a standard way to keep infants’ heads warm. In Italian, this style is known as a cuffia (cap …
Is there someone in your life with whom you have a perfectly harmonious relationship? If so, you could describe your bond using the adjective affiatato. affiatato close / close-knit Affiatato can be translated as close or close-knit, but in English, it’s just as common to use wordier descriptions to illustrate the relationship. Let’s look at …