Is there someone in your hometown who always seems to turn up wherever you go? You’re at the supermarket picking up bananas, and there’s Mr. Jones in the next aisle, comparing breakfast cereals. Later, you head out to a restaurant, and who walks in just as you’re eyeing the pasta menu? Mr. Jones, of course, ordering the exact dish you were about to choose. It’s as if he’s everywhere, all the time!
In Italian, there is a fun idiomatic expression to describe a person who seems to turn up everywhere, and that is essere come il prezzemolo.
essere come il prezzemolo
to be everywhere all the time
Why they chose prezzemolo – that’s parsley in English – is anyone’s guess. I can think of dozens of plants that spread far more aggressively. The most likely explanation is the fact that Italians tend to use prezzemolo in many of their recipes.
Another variation on this you might hear is Sei sempre in mezzo come il prezzemolo! which means You are always in the way like parsley!
Sei sempre in mezzo come il prezzemolo!
You’re always in the way!
A less common expression that involves parsley is essere / starci come il prezzemolo nelle polpette which means to be like parsley in meatballs. This expression has quite a different meaning – it describes something of little significance, or something that does not bring any change to a situation, just as parsley cannot alter the rather strong flavour of meatball mixture.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
