A few days ago I had an interesting reply to my blog La Farinata from Vince, who wrote: “Did you know that Cicero is a nickname meaning chick pea? Thus it seems the word is ceci in modern Italian. At least this is what I have read”. I was intrigued by this comment and decided to do a bit of research. I first looked in my faithful Dizionario della Lingua Italiana Treccani, which told me that the word cece (chickpea) comes from the Latin cicer, and that in the South of Italy the word for chickpea is still cicero. In Puglia there is in fact a famous dish called ‘ciceri e tria’ (chickpeas and pasta, tria being a type of pasta from that region). My dictionary also informed me that the word cece is used to describe a fleshy growth in the form of a chickpea. Hmm, this is all very interesting, but what about Cicerone (Cicero)? Certainly the words cicer (in Italian cece) and Cicerone sound very similar, but my dictionary couldn’t help me any further. I had to find out more: was that famous obnoxious Latin author that I had to study and translate for five miserable years at school really called chickpea? I did a search on the Internet and YES, indeed he was!
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman orator, philosopher and politician who lived in the first century B.C. Apparently “Cicero” was the nickname given to one of his ancestors who had a big wart on his nose in the shape of a chickpea. This nickname, or “cognomen”, was subsequently passed on to following generations, and when Marcus Tullius started his political career he decide, against his friends’ advice, to keep it.
And what about Cicero’s political career? Well, after 2000 and something years he is not doing so well because these days he scrapes a living out of being a tourist guide! Why do I say that? Well, in modern Italian, the word Cicerone is used to describe someone who is paid to guide visitors through a museum, a historic city or an archaeological site whilst describing the works of art and architecture!
That reminds me of a silly poem that I used to recite when I was at school, written in so called latino maccheronico (false Latin) and passed on by many generations of Italian students:
Cicero Ciceronis
mangiabat maccheronis,
et quanti ne mangiabat!
Cicero crepabat.
Cicero of Cicero
ate macaroni,
and how much he ate!
Cicero fell dead.
This poem will definitely never win any literary prize, but it did win our imagination!
Comments:
Bella:
Ciao Serena! Yes yes…I grew up in a neighborhood of Italian immigrants. As ladies like to do, these Italian women and my mother exchanged recipes and techniques, and my mother learned about Italian ingredients and indeed even in our home (of Slavic and Slovenian heritage) we called chick peas “cicers”! 🙂 Even though I have learned proper Italian, still in my vocabulary…they remain “cicers”! I have made farinata several times and I have two words for it…GNAM GNAM! You’re fantastic…what great articles you write! Grazie tanto!
Crispinus:
Che racconto fantastico e vero — specialemente il detaglio della verruca sul naso del maggiore Cicerone!
Invece non sapevo l’uso corrente di «cicerone.» Spero che il mio guido prossimo non parla tanto, quanto il Cicerone storico parlava!
E mi piace multo il poema nel latino maccheronico! Ci sono altri poemi similari?
Grazie mille!
VincePlato:
Hi Serena:
As a ‘new man’ Cicero did very well in his political career. He reached the highest position in the Government but abused his power and had some traitors executed without due process. This eventually led to his forced suicide.
As for your comment that “Cicerone is used to describe someone who is paid to guide visitors through a museum, a historic city or an archaeological site whilst describing the works of art and architecture!”
Cicero was a compulsive art collector and he was always buying artwork without having the money to pay for it and then having to go out and earn more money. His house was like an art museum. I think he would be proud of the current meaning of “Cicerone”.
Thanks for your comments.
Vince
Thomas:
At last may I say, “Bravissimo!” It’s always a delight to read your well-written and helpful blog, Serena.
My wife and I live in beautiful Norway and have bought a little casa seconda in the Le Marche region of Italy, a retreat from the dim Norwegian winters and the unpredictable Norwegian weather. Your blog about Easter traditions explained the reasons and history behind much of what we recently experienced down there.
Tusen takk!
Serena:
Ciao Bella,
Complimenti per il tuo italiano! Pensavo che tu fossi Italiana quando ho letto i tuoi commenti precedenti su “Parole Curiose”. Come hai fatto a imparare cosi’ bene l’italiano? Sei bravissima!
Bella:
Grazie Serena…sei molto gentile! Sei anni fa ho cominciato a studiare l’italiano utilizzando un programma di apprendimento linguistico Transparent Language che si chiama “Learn Italian Now”. Bella pubblicita` eh? 😉 (pero` e` vero!!!!) Durante gli anni ho conosciuto molti italiani tramite il computer. Col passare del tempo alcuni di loro sono diventati cari amici che mi aiutano un sacco! Ma cara Serena… tu sei quella veramente bravissima! Uno di questi giorni perche` non ci racconti dove hai imparato a parlare cosi` bene l’inglese? Sarebbe molto interessante leggere delle esperienze che hai fatto in questo campo! Mi sembra che tu sappia proprio gli argomenti grammaticali che fanno confusione nell’ apprendimento della lingua italiana…e le tue spiegazioni sono sempre chiare chiare! Sai bene le differenze e le “stranezze” tra le due lingue! Dai! Raccontaci di te per favore!
Serena:
Thank you Vince for your comments, they are always very interesting. I must admit that I didn’t know about Cicero’s private museum. My personal knowledge of Cicero goes back to my school years when almost every week we had to translate some of his texts which I hated doing, therefore I always associate my worst school nightmares with Cicerone!
Serena:
Gentile Signor Crispinus,
Grazie per i complimenti. L’uso moderno della parola “Cicerone” e’ ancora molto comune. Per quanto riguarda i poemi in maccheronico, non ne conosco altri, ma abbiamo molte traduzioni maccheroniche dal latino. Penso che scrivero’ un blog su queste.
A presto.
Serena:
Gentile Signor Thomas,
I’m pleased you enjoy my blog and find it useful. I must admit tat I’ve never been to the region Marche, but I know that it’s beautiful and full of history. I also know very well what you mean for “unpredictable weather” having spent 14 years in England!