When you’ve been learning and speaking a language for a long time there are certain words and phrases that stick out and embed themselves in your everyday life. Italian is such a beautiful language, it just sounds so lovely and flows off the tongue so well, two of the reasons I wanted to learn it. For this blog post I’ve picked five Italian words/phrases that stand out for me.
1. Fruittivendolo – Greengrocer
This is a bit of a random choice of word to start off with but back when I was first learning Italian, teaching myself before I started my university course, I was learning all the basic phrases you might need if you are a tourist and I just fell in love with this word. The intonation and the way it feels when you say it, it just made me smile 🙂
2. Dai – Come on
This word has made it’s way into my everyday vocabulary even in an English setting. I say it when I’m trying to get the boys out the house on time in a morning. I shout it when I’m in the car and get road rage. Normally it’s accompanied by a face and a hand gesture or a stroppy movement!
3. Mangiare – To eat
This is the verb but this word is used in a few forms in our house. The everyday question “Cosa mangiamo sta sera?” What are we eating tonight?, “Mangia!” “Eat!” when the boys are taking forever to eat their dinner. “Cos’avete mangiato a scuola oggi?” “What have you eaten at school today?” When you live with an Italian, life revolves around meal times!
4. Porca Miseria
There are many translations for this phrase which you can read here. Most of them are quite strong and would be considered swearing. The Collins dictionary says that porca miseria means “bloody hell” but Matteo says it isn’t so strong and would liken it to “flippin heck”. He uses it all the time and I suppose we consider it a safe phrase to use in front of the boys when you need to swear!
5. Amore – Love
Here I am referring to this noun being used as a term of endearment. Ever since we have been together Matteo and I have called each other “Amo” or “More” and he and his parents and sister call the boys “Amore” when they speak to them or in answer to a question eg. “Si amore!” “Yes darling”.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post, it’s great to be linking up again for the #dolcevitabloggers linky after a couple of months away. Don’t forget to head over to see the favourite words/phrases posts from Kelly at italianatheart.com, Jasmine at questadolcevita.com and Kristie at mammaprada.com
You can see my previous Dolce Vita Bloggers post here.
Aww we love your list and agree to how many times we hear a form of Mangiare in our Nanna and Grandads house. Every time we walk through their front door, the first thing our Grandad would say was “Hai Mangiato?” I even made artwork of it for my kitchen! <3
Kelly xx
http://www.theblossomtwins.com
Great list with variety. I think DAI has so many uses: to encourage, to express that you want to be taken seriously, to tell someone to get moving…..it’s a great word! 🙂
Love this list! I use ‘dai’ probably too much but as Lulu mentions, it has so many uses you can’t help it!
I love the greengrocer, I didn’t know this! The others I think are used in our house all the time! Dai and Mangiare I think the most as with children you’re always trying to get them to hurry up or eat! I have a lot of friends who use Amore with each other it’s very sweet. We’ve always used nicknames for some reason. And the er porco! Yes he gets mentioned a few times! Just hoping it doesn’t get repeated in front of Nonno!
Fruttivendolo is so melodic! And I can never get enough of Italians saying “Dai!!!” Probably because as you said it usually comes along with a gesture…aaahhh I love it because it’s so uniquely Italian!!
Hahaha porca miseria. I love when Italians use this, especially when they are super frustrated. It’s one of those expressions I love the sound of and would love to use but when it actually comes down to the right moment, it doesn’t come naturally to me yet!!!
I agree with Matteo, “Porca miseria” isn’t as strong as “bloody hell” and it’s quite “safe” to use it in front of kids 😉 . We like to add little variations to it sometimes like “porca miseriaccia”, ihih.
Lovely choice of words! “Dai” is really easy to remember and I think I will use it more often. I just have to pronounce it right so that it does not sound like “die”!
Hahaha.
Anyway, in Filipino, the word “amo” means “master”. Language is fascinating, isn’t it?
Love this list!! Especially the first word. Italian is such a charming language <3