{"id":17010,"date":"2018-09-03T17:23:06","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T15:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=17010"},"modified":"2018-09-03T17:23:06","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T15:23:06","slug":"italian-popular-sayings-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-popular-sayings-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Popular Sayings – Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are the translations to last week’s blog <\/span>Italian Popular Sayings \u2013 A Quiz<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

avere la luna storta\/di traverso<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = to have the moon sideways
\nmeaning<\/em> = to be in a bad mood<\/p>\n

avere la luna sul gomito
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to have the moon on your elbow
\nmeaning<\/em> = fake! I woke up one night when the moon was full. We have skylights above the bed, and I noticed that the moonlight was on Geoff’s elbow. The following morning I said to him: “Stanotte avevi la luna sul gomito!<\/strong>” (last night, you had the moon on your elbow). Geoff said that it sounded like a folkloric saying, a bit like ‘avevi la luna storta<\/strong>‘, and that was the beginning of the quiz!<\/p>\n

avere un diavolo per capello
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to have a devil on each hair
\nmeaning<\/em> = to be very angry or agitated, as if you had many devils pulling your hair<\/p>\n

il diavolo fa le pentole ma non i coperchi<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = the devil makes the pans but not the lids
\nmeaning<\/em> = the truth will always come out<\/p>\n

alzare il gomito
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to lift the elbow
\nmeaning<\/em> = to bend one’s elbow (to drink alcohol, perhaps excessively)<\/p>\n

piovere a gatti e cani<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = to rain like cats and dogs
\nmeaning<\/em> = fake! This is a literal translation of the English saying. In Italian we say “piovere a catinelle”<\/strong> (it\u2019s raining buckets)<\/p>\n

avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to have your barrel full and your wife drunk
\nmeaning<\/em> = to have your cake and eat it too<\/p>\n

capitare a fagiolo
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to arrive like a bean
\nmeaning<\/em> = to arrive at the right time, e.g. bravo, capiti proprio a fagiolo!<\/strong> (well done, you’ve arrived just at the right time!)<\/p>\n

chi fa per s\u00e9 fa per tre<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = who does for themselves does for three
\nmeaning<\/em> = if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself<\/p>\n

nella botte piccola c’\u00e8 il vino buono
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = the best wine is in the small barrel
\nmeaning<\/em> = good things come in small packages<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

… c’\u00e8 di mezzo il mare.
<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

tra il dire e il fare c\u2019\u00e8 di mezzo il mare
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = between the saying and the doing there’s the sea in the middle
\nmeaning<\/em> = easier said than done – it\u2019s easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk – words are cheap<\/p>\n

il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = the wolf looses its pelt but not its vice
\nmeaning<\/em> = old wine in new bottles – the leopard cannot change its spots<\/p>\n

la gallina che canta ha fatto l\u2019uovo
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = the chicken that sings laid the egg
\nmeaning<\/em> = “the lady doth protest too much, methinks” (W. Shakespeare, Hamlet)<\/p>\n

buttare via la gallina con le uova marce<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = to throw away the chicken with the rotten eggs
\nmeaning<\/em> = fake! The Italian saying is the same as the English one “buttare via il bambino con l’acqua sporca”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

essere come il prezzemolo<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = to be like parsley
\nmeaning<\/em> = to turn up everywhere<\/p>\n

entrarci come i cavoli a merenda
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = to fit in like cabbages at snack time
\nmeaning<\/em> = to have nothing to do with something, to be out of place (you’d be unlikely to have cabbage with your merenda<\/strong>, a mid afternoon snack!)<\/p>\n

Bacco, Tabacco e Venere, riducono l\u2019uomo in cenere
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = Bacchus, Tobacco, and Venus, reduce man to ashes
\nmeaning<\/em> = excessive use of alcohol, cigarettes and sex will kill you.<\/p>\n

prendere due topi con un gatto solo<\/strong>
\nliteral translation<\/em> = to get two mice with just one cat
\nmeaning<\/em> = fake, invented by Geoff! There is, however, an Italian saying “prendere due piccioni con una fava”<\/strong> (to kill two birds with one stone; literally: to catch two pigeons with one bean)<\/p>\n

chi non risica non rosica
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = who doesn’t risk doesn’t gnaw
\nmeaning<\/em> = nothing ventured nothing gained – y<\/span>ou can’t win if you don’t play the game<\/p>\n

campa cavallo che l\u2019erba cresce
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = live horse that the grass grows
\nmeaning<\/em> = that’ll be the day! – pigs might fly! (literally: don’t die of hunger horse, wait for the grass to grow. A highly unlikely probability!)<\/span><\/p>\n

l\u2019erba voglio non cresce neanche nel giardino del re
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = the grass ‘I want’ doesn’t even grow in the king’s garden
\nmeaning<\/em> = I want doesn’t get (usually said to a petulant or self-centred child who repeatedly demands io voglio<\/strong>, io voglio<\/strong>, io voglio<\/strong>!)<\/p>\n

la lingua batte dove il dente duole
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = the tongue hits where the tooth hurts
\nmeaning<\/em> = the tongue ever turns to the aching tooth (our mind always returns to the things that bother us)<\/p>\n

non \u00e8 bello ci\u00f2 che \u00e8 bello, ma \u00e8 bello ci\u00f2 che piace
\n<\/strong>literal translation<\/em> = it’s not beautiful that which is beautiful, but it’s beautiful that which pleases
\nmeaning<\/em> = beauty is in the eye of the beholder<\/p>\n

Well done everyone who had a go, we appreciate your participation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Here are the translations to last week’s blog Italian Popular Sayings \u2013 A Quiz avere la luna storta\/di traverso literal translation = to have the moon sideways meaning = to be in a bad mood avere la luna sul gomito literal translation = to have the moon on your elbow meaning = fake! I woke…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":17035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,619],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17010","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-italian-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17010"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17034,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010\/revisions\/17034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}