Today’s word of the day is part of our Italian Christmas Word Advent Calendar series. Each day throughout December, we’ll post a word that is related to the holiday season. Enjoy!
Christmas is only two days away, so it’s high time we mentioned the big man himself: Santa Claus, otherwise known as Babbo Natale in Italian!
The word babbo (masculine, plural: babbi) is another term for father and is popular in certain regions of Italy such as Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, Marche and Sardegna. The closest translation in English would be daddy or pops.
Come fa Babbo Natale ad entrare in casa?
How does Santa Claus get inside the house?
The modern-day Babbo Natale grew out of traditions surrounding the historical Saint Nicholas, a 4th century bishop who was known for his generosity. He is portrayed as a portly, white-bearded man wearing a fur-lined red coat, red hat, black boots and a leather belt. Carrying toys in his large sack, he is said to bring presents to the homes of good children on Christmas Eve.
Every year on December 1st, the city of Torino holds an event called Il Raduno dei Babbi Natale (The Reunion of Santa Clauses) in support of the Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital. Hundreds of people, including marathon runners, musicians and motorcyclists, dress up in Santa costumes to raise money for important projects at the hospital. The day we took part was cold and rainy but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Babbi as you can see below!
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.
