{"id":1238,"date":"2011-12-05T10:41:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T10:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2011-12-05T12:34:25","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T12:34:25","slug":"che-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/che-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Che Casino!"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018o\u2019<\/em>), luogo dove si gioca d’azzardo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. casino (with the accent on the \u2018o\u2019), a place where one gambles.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018i\u2019<\/em>), bordello.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. casino (with the accent on the \u2018i\u2019 ), brothel<\/em><\/p>\n

3. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018i\u2019<\/em>), confusione, chiasso, caos, molto<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. casino (with the accent on the \u2018i\u2019 ), confusion, racket, chaos, \u2018a lot\u2019<\/p>\n

These days it\u2019s this latter definition that you will hear used most often in everyday speech. Here are some typical examples:<\/p>\n

scusa, c\u2019\u00e8 un po\u2019 di casino in questa stanza<\/strong> (I\u2019m sorry, there\u2019s a bit of a mess in this room)<\/p>\n

Oddio, la strada \u00e8 completamente bloccata, che casino<\/strong> (oh God, the road\u2019s completely blocked, what chaos\/what a mess)<\/p>\n

ti voglio un casino di bene!<\/strong> (I really like you a lot!).<\/p>\n

Che casino fanno quei bimbi!<\/strong> (what a racket those kids are making!)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at the etymology of the word:<\/p>\n

As you can probably guess the word casino<\/strong> derives from casa<\/strong> (house), in fact it literally means \u2018little house\u2019. For many centuries the word had the definition found in Salvatore Battaglia\u2019s grande dizionario della lingua italiana<\/strong> published in 21 volumes: \u201cVillino signorile, per lo pi\u00f9 di campagna; piccolo e grazioso edificio, in passato adibito a residenza padronale o ad usi particolari – casino di caccia, di pesca ecc.\u201d <\/strong>(\u201celegant little villa, usually in the countryside; small and gracious building, in the past used as a manor house or for particular purposes – hunting or fishing lodge, etc.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Later, the word casino came to signify \u201cun luogo di ritrovo e di ricreazione, pubblico, privato o militare, con sale di lettura, di gioco e di fumo\u201d<\/strong> (\u201ca public, private, or military recreational or meeting place, with reading, gaming, and smoking rooms.\u201d). In other words, the casino became what we might call a \u2018gentleman’s club\u2019<\/p>\n

The gaming aspect of these casini<\/strong> (clubs) gives rise to the English usage of the word as \u2018a place where one gambles\u2019. However, in Italy it was for certain other pleasures that the casino became notorious, and towards the end of the 1800\u2019s the word casino became synonymous with postribolo<\/strong> or bordello <\/strong>(brothel). Battaglia later redefines casino as meaning:\u00a0 \u201cchiasso, confusione, luogo ove regnano grande trambusto e confusione estrema\u201d<\/strong> (\u201cloud noise, confusion, a place where a lot of hustle, bustle and extreme confusion reigns\u201d).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting to see how the use of certain words gradually becomes acceptable in society. When I was a child in the Seventies \u2018casino\u2019 was becoming popular\u00a0 amongst children to describe a chaos, a mess, or a lot of noise. For example \u201cforza, facciamo casino\u201d<\/strong> (\u201ccome on, let\u2019s make a racket\u201d) meant let’s run around screaming like hell (and annoy the adults!). However, because of the association of the word \u2018casino\u2019 with a brothel, for my parents generation it was una parolaccia <\/strong>(a swearword) and we children were told off for using it. Things have changed since then, and nowadays \u2018casino\u2019\u00a0 is no longer seen as being rude, being commonly used by everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018o\u2019), luogo dove si gioca d’azzardo. 1. casino (with the accent on the \u2018o\u2019), a place where one gambles. 2. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018i\u2019), bordello. 2. casino (with the accent on the \u2018i\u2019 ), brothel 3. casino (con l’accento sulla \u2018i\u2019), confusione, chiasso, caos, molto 3. casino (with the…<\/p>\n

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