Whenever you narrowly manage to do something or just miss something, you can use the Italian idiomatic expression per un pelo, which literally means for a hair. Some possible English equivalents include by the skin of one’s teeth or by a hair’s breadth, but more often than not, we use simple adverbs such as nearly, narrowly, almost or just.
per un pelo
just / narrowly / almost
As mentioned earlier, you can use per un pelo in positive situations where you were fortunate and just barely managed to do something in the nick of time. For example:
Non ho perso l’autobus per un pelo.
I almost missed the bus. / I just managed to catch the bus.
Il giovane è scampato al terremoto per un pelo.
The young man narrowly escaped the earthquake.
Stavo per perdermi la festa. Sono arrivato per un pelo!
I was about to miss the party. I just managed to get there in time!
However, it also appears in many negative sentences, indicating instances where you narrowly miss out on an opportunity.
Lucia ha mancato il treno per un pelo.
Lucia just missed the bus.
Abbiamo perso la partita per un pelo.
We lost the game but only just.
This expression shouldn’t be confused with un pelo, which is another way of saying un po’ (a little bit). You will also hear un pelino (literally “a little hair”).
Questa mela è un pelo più grande di questa.
This apple is a little bit bigger than this one.
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.
