One possible translation for the word bag in Italian is borsa (feminine, plural: borse)*. *Note: Another word that translates as bag in Italian, along with its related forms sacchetto and sacca, is sacco. Sacco generally denotes any large sack, such as a sack of potatoes (sacco di patate) or a trash bag (sacco della spazzatura), …
The word for throat in Italian is gola (feminine, plural: gole). It derives from the Latin gula. One of the telltale symptoms of a cold is a mal di gola (sore throat), otherwise known as a gola infiammata (lit: an inflamed throat). In some cases, you may also experience a gola secca (dry throat) or …
The sunflower, known as a girasole (masculine, plural: girasoli) in Italian, is a beautiful tall plant of the daisy family with very large golden-rayed flowers. The Italian name is a combination of the verb girare (to turn, spin) and sole (sun). The name refers to the heliotropic behaviour of the flower (it turns throughout the …
While watching the Italian Netflix drama Suburra, I couldn’t help but notice how many times the word impiccio (masculine, plural: impicci) came up in conversation, probably because the main characters always seem to be in a mafia-related bind of some sort! Impiccio can be translated in many ways in English including hindrance, mess, nuisance, trouble …
The word for sugar in Italian is zucchero (masculine, plural: zuccheri). It likely entered the language via medieval Latin from the Arabic word sukkar. Most people are familiar with the standard zucchero semolato (white sugar) or zucchero bruno (brown sugar) but there are also many other kinds of sugar in existence including: Ho usato lo …
What do a wet dog, an overflowing garbage bin and mouldy blue cheese that’s been left in the fridge too long all have in common? They all emit a terrible puzza (feminine, plural: puzze), the Italian word for bad smell, stink or stench! If you’re having trouble committing this word to memory, I find it …