Italian Word of the Day: Tatuaggio (tattoo)

The word for a design made by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin is tatuaggio (masculine, plural: tatuaggi) in Italian. It derives from the French tatouage, which in turn comes from the English tattoo. Learn with our video There are two ways of saying ‘to get a tattoo‘ in Italian: There isn’t a big …

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Italian Word of the Day: Scavezzacollo (daredevil)

The word for a reckless young person who leads a wild, free and unruly life is scavezzacollo in Italian. Three possible translations in English include daredevil, risk-taker and tearaway. Learn with our video It is composed of two words: scavezzare, a single verb that means to break the top off a tree or more generally …

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Italian Word of the Day: Magna magna / Mangia mangia

One of our readers recently asked us what the expression mangia mangia means in Italian. Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, let’s take a quick look at what mangia means on its own, and how Italians use this word to create various idiomatic expressions. Learn with our video What does “mangia” mean in Italian? …

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Italian Word of the Day: Calvo (bald)

The word for bald or bald-headed in Italian is calvo, which comes from the Latin calvus of the same meaning. Its feminine form is calva and their respective plural forms are calvi and calve. Learn with our video Essere calvo means to be bald whereas diventare calvo means to go bald. Sarò calvo fra qualche …

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Italian Word of the Day: Tuttavia (however / yet)

Tuttavia is a common Italian conjunction composed of the words tutta (the feminine form of tutto meaning everything) and via (path / way). Being fairly formal, it is used far more in writing than in speech. Learn with our video There is a range of possible translations for this word in English including however, yet, …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pazzesco (crazy / incredible)

Did you recently see or hear something that completely blew your mind? If so, you could use the Italian adjective pazzesco to describe it! The feminine and plural forms of pazzesco are as follows: Learn with our video Pazzo vs pazzesco: what’s the difference? Pazzesco derives from the adjective pazzo which means crazy or insane. …

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