{"id":522,"date":"2010-09-27T13:58:58","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T13:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=522"},"modified":"2010-09-27T14:05:30","modified_gmt":"2010-09-27T14:05:30","slug":"misleading-word-of-the-day-part-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/misleading-word-of-the-day-part-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Misleading Word of the Day – part 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s ‘misleading word’ is yet another ‘false friend’, i.e. an Italian word that sounds more or less the same as an English word, but has a different meaning: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Italian word<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nsounds like English<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nactual meaning<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
geniale<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\ngenial<\/span><\/td>\ningenious, talented<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The English word genial is usually defined as: ‘jovial’, ‘kindly’, ‘sociable’, etc. It also has the secondary meaning of ‘showing genius’, and this is where we find the common Latin root which it shares with the Italian word geniale<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Italian word geniale<\/strong> is defined as: ‘clever’, ‘ingenious’, ‘talented’, ‘gifted’. Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Roberta \u00e8 un’artista geniale<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nRoberta is a gifted artist <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Claudio ha avuto un’idea geniale<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nClaudio had a brilliant (or an ingenious) idea<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Beware however of the word ingenuity<\/span>!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Italian word<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nsounds like English<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nactual meaning<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ingenuit\u00e0<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\ningenuity<\/span><\/td>\ningenuousness, naivety<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Yes, unfortunately in English you have both ‘ingenious’ and ‘ingenuous’, the former meaning ‘clever at inventing’ or ‘constructing’, and the latter meaning ‘open’, ‘frank’, ‘innocent’. The Italian word ingenuit\u00e0<\/strong> defines the latter of these two. Here are a couple of examples:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Claudio ha risposto alla domanda con ingenuit\u00e0<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nClaudio replied to the question\u00a0 with naivety<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c8 stata un’ingenuit\u00e0 da parte tua affidare un’incarico cos\u00ec delicato a Marco<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nIt was naive of you to entrust Marco with such a delicate task<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

If you want to say ‘ingenuity’ in Italian you should use the word ingegnosit\u00e0<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Claudio ha risposto alla domanda con ingegnosit\u00e0<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nClaudio replied to the question\u00a0 in an ingenious way<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gli Italiani sono famosi per la loro ingegnosit\u00e0<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nThe Italians are famous for their ingenuity<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

To finish with, here is a popular Italian proverb:<\/span><\/p>\n

La necessit\u00e0 aguzza l’ingegno <\/strong>(‘necessity sharpens ingenuity’, or ‘necessity is the mother of invention’).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s ‘misleading word’ is yet another ‘false friend’, i.e. an Italian word that sounds more or less the same as an English word, but has a different meaning: Italian word sounds like English actual meaning geniale genial ingenious, talented The English word genial is usually defined as: ‘jovial’, ‘kindly’, ‘sociable’, etc. It also has the…<\/p>\n

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