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The Latest Gossip … Famous Film Star Buys House in Local Town! Posted by on Mar 31, 2014 in Italian Language

pettegolezzi = gossip

“George Clooney ha comprato casa a Pontremoli!” questo è il pettegolezzo più gettonato negli ultimi giorni qui da noi. Questa mattina mi trovavo dal fruttivendolo a fare la spesa quando ho sentito Renzo il negoziante dire: “Adesso poi, signore belle, avrete anche Clooney”
“George Clooney has bought a house in Pontremoli!” this is the  most popular piece of local gossip these days. This morning I was at the Greengrocers doing some shopping when I heard Renzo the shopkeeper saying: “So now, beautiful ladies, you’ll have George Clooney as well”

66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra)
a picture of George Clooney

“Ma allora è vero che ha comprato casa qui in zona?” ho chiesto io.
“So is it true that he’s bought a house in this area then?” I asked.

“No, ancora non è sicuro, sembra che stia ancora cercando” ha risposto Renzo.
“No, it’s still not sure, it seems that he’s still looking around” replied Renzo.

Al che una cliente ha aggiunto: “A me hanno detto che abbia offerto 5 milioni di Euro a B… per il suo casale”
To which a client added: “I’ve heard that he offered B… 5 million euros for his farm house”

pontremoli 0005 02.09.2006
a picture of Pontremoli

“Se me li offrisse a me 5 milioni di Euro, gli darei anche la moglie” ha ribattuto prontamente Renzo.
“If he offered me 5 million euros I’d even give him my wife” Renzo promptly replied.

“Stai attento Renzo, lo sai quello che si dice di Clooney” è intervenuta la commessa, “tutte le belle donne con cui si accompagna per un anno o due al massimo sono pagate per apparire al suo fianco, in realtà lui sarebbe gay”
“ Be careful Renzo, you know what they say about Clooney” interjected the shop assistant, “all the beautiful women that accompany him for a year, or two at the most, are paid to appear at his side, in reality … he’s gay”

“Ah no, in questo caso i 5 milioni se li può tenere!” ha esclamato Renzo.
“Oh well in that case he can keep his 5 million!” exclaimed Renzo.

“E bravo Renzo, la moglie sei pronto a darla, ma tu no. Come la mettiamo?” gli hanno chiesto i clienti ridendo.
“Good old Renzo, you’re ready to give away your wife but not yourself. How come?” the clients asked him laughingly.

Pontremoli,_lungomagra_04
another picture of Pontremoli

“Perché io sono un tipo tradizionale, all’antica” ha risposto Renzo ridendo anche lui, “e poi, via, anche loro con tutti quei soldi non sono felici lo stesso. Sempre a pensare alla figura, scommetto che una cosa buona non l’hanno mai mangiata!” ha concluso filosoficamente Renzo.
“Because I’m a traditional old fashioned type” replied Renzo, laughing as well, “and then, even them with all their money aren’t happy anyway. Always thinking about appearances, I bet that they’ve never eaten anything really good!” Renzo concluded philosophically.

Noi italiani pensiamo sempre al nostro cibo, di cui andiamo tanto fieri!
We Italians are always thinking about our food, which we’re really proud of!

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Comments:

  1. Anas:

    “Se me li offrisse a me 5 milioni di Euro”

    Is this a typo or a new construction I need to learn? It seems to read “If to me they offered to me 5 million Euros”.

    • Serena:

      @Anas Salve Anas!
      “Se me li offrisse a me 5 milioni di Euro”
      This is not a typo, it’s a colloquialism: we like to put as many pronouns as possible to make our speech more emphatic. The correct form should be: “se li offrisse a me …” Don’t worry, you don’t need to learn it, just to recognize it 🙂

      Saluti da Serena

  2. Joan Engelhaupt:

    Oh, please tell me that when Renzo said, “in questo caso i 5 milioni se li può tenere!” upon hearing the conjecture that George Clooney is gay, he didn’t mean he didn’t want a gay man buying property in Pontremoli.

    • Geoff:

      @Joan Engelhaupt Don’t worry Joan!
      Pontremoli is a small town but there are all sorts of people here, of different sizes, shapes, ethnicities, religious creeds, and sexual orientations, and they are all accepted.
      Renzo was just making a joke about the fact that he would not have sex with another man even if they offered him 5 milioni di euro “perché fa male dietro” (because it hurts behind), he said. I had deliberately censored this last bit when I recounted the story, to avoid offending people.

      Saluti da Serena

  3. June:

    Mi e` piaciuto questo dialogo sul Clooney. Per piacere vi chiedo di spiegare i pronomi doppi in un blog–specialmente l’ uso di quelli con il si impersonale ed i verbi riflessivi ai tempi passati e per quelli che esprimono una quantita` (ne). I miei studenti soffrono di cervelli fritti!

    Le foto sono belle!


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