There’s nothing like standing at the bar counter, waiting for our foamy cappuccino, when someone leans in and whispers La sai l’ultima? (Literally, do you know the latest?). And just like that, our morning routine becomes a lot more interesting!
I know, I know: gossiping is not exactly a noble hobby. But let’s be honest, we’re all guilty to some degree. Morality aside, though, what’s interesting here is that in Italian, we have a rich vocabulary for all things gossip, with specific words for the act itself, the person doing it, and the type of rumor being spread. Below I share the most common ones, including some expressions and reaction phrases we use all the time.
The key words for every type of gossip
If you want to talk about gossip in Italian, there are different words to choose from:
Il pettegolezzo (plural: i pettegolezzi) is the classic Italian word for gossip. It’s the juicy stuff, more or less malicious, the kind of thing we probably shouldn’t be sharing, but we do anyway because it’s just too good to keep to ourself.
Fun fact: pettegolezzo comes from the word peto, which means “fart” (yep!). The connection is beautifully metaphorical: just as certain emissions are impossible to hold in, a pettegolezzo is something that simply… slips out!
Non credere a tutto quello che ti dicono: la verità è molto diversa dai pettegolezzi che girano.
Don’t believe everything people tell you: the truth is very different from the rumors going around.
Then there’s la chiacchiera, (plural: le chiacchiere), which literally means “chat,” but in this context, it refers to a piece of gossip that gets passed around casually, almost like some kind of background noise. You’ll often hear it in the phrase le chiacchiere di paese (small-town gossip), referring to the kind of rumors that spread in those small communities where everyone knows everyone and our life is basically public property.
Non ascoltare quello che dicono in giro, sono solo chiacchiere di paese.
Don’t listen to what they’re saying around town, it’s just small-town gossip.
Another word we use a lot is la voce (plural: le voci), which literally translates to “voice,” but in the gossip world, it’s a piece of unverified news floating around because someone heard it from someone else. Classic expressions are Gira voce che… (Word has it that…) and Voci di corridoio (literally “hallway rumors”)
Girano brutte voci sul conto di quel ragazzo.
There are nasty rumors going around about that guy.
We also say la diceria (plural: le dicerie), which is hearsay with a hint of malice. It comes from the Latin verb dicere (to say), and that’s what it is: something being said about someone, whether it’s true or not.
Malgrado le dicerie, il loro progetto sta andando alla grande.
Despite the rumors, their project is going really well.
A word you’ll frequently encounter in celebrity news and media contexts is l’indiscrezione (plural: le indiscrezioni). This is a piece of confidential information that was let slip, like a leak.
Secondo le ultime indiscrezioni, i due si sarebbero lasciati definitivamente.
According to the latest rumors, the two have reportedly broken up for good.
There’s one more I want to mention. It’s not a noun in strict grammatical terms, but an expression: per sentito dire, which literally translates to “for heard say” (essentially, based on hearsay). We use it when we know something only because someone told us, not because we actually saw it happen. Great for sharing gossip we take no responsibility for!
Non fidarti di Cristina, dice le cose solo per sentito dire!
Don’t trust Cristina, she only says things based on hearsay!
The verbs of gossip
We’ve covered the nouns, now let’s see some verbs:
Spettegolare is the verb form of pettegolezzo and simply means “to gossip.” When we want to say who or what we are gossiping about, we use the preposition su:
- Spettegolare su qualcuno (to gossip about someone)
- Spettegolare su qualcosa (to gossip about something)
Hanno passato la pausa pranzo a spettegolare sul nuovo collega del marketing.
They spent their lunch break gossiping about the new guy in marketing.
When we’re spreading dicerie and mean pieces of gossip, the verb that describes this activity is sparlare, the Italian equivalent of badmouthing. It combines the prefix s- with parlare (to speak), and it is almost always followed by the preposition di (of / about).
Ho saputo che hai sparlato di me con gli altri, complimenti!
I found out you’ve been badmouthing me to the others, thanks a lot!
A fun verb is ciarlare, which is used for idle chattering, exchanging bits of gossip, that sort of thing. It’s a bit old-fashioned, though, more likely to come out of your old zia’s (aunt’s) mouth while she’s complaining about her girlfriends at the weekly tombola than from a teenager at McDonald’s:
Teresa e Maria non fanno altro che ciarlare tutto il tempo e io non riesco a sentire i numeri estratti!
Teresa and Maria never stop chatting the whole time, and I can’t hear the numbers being called!
For those who absolutely cannot keep a thing to themselves, there’s spifferare, which means “to blab.” It comes from piffero (a type of flute), and just like with pettegolezzo, the connection is once again metaphorical: just as a musician blows air to play the flute, in the same way, a person who spiffera blows pieces of juicy information out of their mouth. You’ll often hear the expression spifferare ai quattro venti, literally “to blab to the four winds,” which means to tell absolutely everyone.
Gliel’ho detto in confidenza e lei l’ha spifferato a tutti!
I told her in confidence and she blabbed it to everyone!
We also say mettere in giro voci, meaning “to spread rumors,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like: taking a piece of information (verified or not) and making sure it reaches as many ears as possible.
Hanno messo in giro voci di imminenti licenziamenti, ma non è vero niente!
They’ve been spreading rumors about upcoming layoffs, but none of it is true!
Key characters in the gossip world
Every good gossip session needs its protagonist:
Il pettegolo (or la pettegola) is the person who always has the latest news and somehow knows things before they even happen. Every office or friend group has one, there’s no escape.
Stai alla larga dalla signora del terzo piano, è la pettegola del palazzo!
Stay away from the lady on the third floor, she’s the building gossip!
Il ficcanaso (also, la ficcanaso) is the nosy person who sticks (ficca) their nose (naso) into everyone’s business. Needless to say, a ficcanaso is never far from a good gossip session.
Quel ficcanaso fa sempre domande sulla nostra vita privata.
That nosy person always asks questions about our private lives.
L’impiccione (also, l’impicciona) is similar to il ficcanaso, just a bit more opinionated: not only do they want to know everything, but they often have very strong opinions about all of it—and they like to share them, whether you asked or not.
Che fastidio gli impiccioni che vogliono sapere tutto di tutti.
What a nuisance nosy people are, always wanting to know everything about everyone.
And then there’s the person who gossips with bad intentions, who is called la malalingua (plural: le malelingue). The word itself is pretty self-explanatory: it’s a compound formed by combining mala (bad) with lingua (tongue). A bad tongue, plain and simple.
Con il suo successo ha messo a tacere tutte le malelingue del paese.
With his success, he silenced all the village’s bad tongues.
Typical phrases and expressions
Now let’s see some phrases and expressions we use all the time when gossiping.
Every great piece of gossip deserves a proper introduction. La sai l’ultima? (Do you know the latest?) or Hai sentito l’ultima? (Have you heard the latest?) are classics. Indovina un po’…(Guess what…) works great for casual bombshells. And Non ci crederai mai… (You’ll never believe this…) is perfect when the gossip is so unbelievable you need to mentally prepare your audience.
To share a juicy piece of information without exposing your sources, some good expressions are Gira voce che… (Word has it that…) or Ho sentito che… (I heard that…). Both are perfectly vague.
Instead, to make it feel exclusive, go with Non dirlo a nessuno, ma…(Don’t tell anyone, but…) or Tra me e te… (Between you and me…), though when you hear these phrases, chances are the person has almost certainly already told at least four other people! You can also say Tienitelo per te (Keep it to yourself), advice that, naturally, hardly anyone follows!
And then, of course, there are the reactions, because what’s gossip without a dramatic response?
Non ci credo! (I don’t believe it!) is the standard reaction to most pieces of gossip. The more shocked the facial expression, the better.
Ma dai! (No way!) is short and punchy, and pairs well with Giura!(Swear!), because hey, for some gossip, we need absolute confirmation before we can even begin to process the information.
And when the piece of gossip is so incredible it sounds made up, we pull out Ma scherzi? (Are you kidding?) or Stai scherzando, vero? (You’re kidding, right?).
Finally, when the piece of information you are sharing is really wild, you may hear us use the funny expression Roba da matti!, literally “stuff for crazy people.” It’s an Italian way of saying “that’s absolutely insane.”
Valentina Nicastro is a travel writer in love with her home country, Italy. Having travelled widely around the globe, she realised there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put the passport aside for a while. When she is not immersed in documenting Italy, you’ll find her donning her communication consultant hat, weaving words as a content writer and bridging linguistic divides as a translator.
