No sooner do I get home from work than do I slip out of my work shoes and straight into my comfy pantofole, the word for slippers in Italian. Pantofola is a feminine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: This term applies to any comfortable indoor shoe, usually made of leather, cloth, …
A delicious tropical fruit that Italians love eating in the summertime is ananas, the Italian word for pineapple. It is currently the third most important tropical fruit in world production. Whereas the English word pineapple was applied to the fruit because of its resemblance to a pine cone, much of mainland Europe adopted the word …
The word for eye in Italian is occhio (masculine, plural: occhi). Just as in English, it refers to the physical body part but also has a number of figurative meanings related to sight. Mi è entrato qualcosa nell’occhio! Something went into my eye! Below is a brief selection of the many figurative expressions containing the …
A very useful word in Italian is spreco, which translates as waste in English. It refers to the act of using or expending something carelessly or extravagantly to no purpose. spreco waste Spreco is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Below are a few common expressions using the word spreco: …
Have you come down with a cold (raffreddore)? Or perhaps you suffer from allergies (allergie)? If so, you might find yourself sneezing more than usual! The word for a sneeze in Italian is starnuto, which comes from the verb starnutire meaning to sneeze. starnuto sneeze Note: less common variations are found in Italian literature, such …
Humans have used soap – or sapone (masculine, plural: saponi) in Italian – for washing, bathing and cleaning for millennia, with evidence of soap-like materials existing even in ancient Babylon. Soap that is used for bathing or hand-washing generally comes in two forms: saponetta (bar soap) or sapone liquido (liquid soap). Bisogna strofinare le mani …