{"id":7291,"date":"2014-09-25T09:33:15","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T09:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=7291"},"modified":"2014-09-25T10:23:57","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T10:23:57","slug":"what-did-they-just-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/what-did-they-just-say\/","title":{"rendered":"What Did They Just Say?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It always seems a bit ironic to me that students of Italian put so much effort into learning their grammar, with all its convoluted rules and exceptions, only to be confronted with what appears to be a totally different language when they finally set foot in Italy.
In fact, there is a vast difference between text book Italian and colloquial Italian. Personally I\u2019ve never been much of a grammar book person, and I don\u2019t have much patience for studying verb conjugations and so on, so most of my Italian has been learnt \u2018per la strada\u2019<\/strong>. Of course, I have the benefit of Serena\u2019s vast knowledge of \u2018correct\u2019 Italian to keep me on line! Naturally, if you don\u2019t live in Italy it\u2019s a lot harder to pick up every day colloquial Italian and attempt to blend in a bit. So to help you out, here\u2019s just a small collection of some of the many colloquial expressions that you\u2019ll hear used a lot in Italy, but probably won\u2019t find in your textbooks:<\/p>\n

You\u2019re welcome!<\/u><\/font>
Everyone learns that prego<\/strong> is the typical reply to grazie<\/strong>, don\u2019t they? But in reality it\u2019s only one of the many replies that you\u2019ll hear. Here are a few expressions that all roughly translate as \u2018think nothing of it\u2019 or \u2018you\u2019re welcome\u2019:<\/p>\n

figurati \/ figuriamoci
ma capirai
non c\u2019\u00e8 di che
ci mancherebbe (altro)
e di cosa?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"panda\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ph<\/font>oto (CC) by <\/font><\/em><\/strong>angela n.<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

E allora?<\/font><\/u>
Here is a word that you\u2019ll hear all the time. Allora<\/strong> changes its meaning depending on the context and tone of voice:<\/p>\n

Allora, cominciamo a mangiare? <\/strong>= Well then, shall we start eating? 
E allora? come va?<\/strong> = so? how is it going?
Allora???<\/strong> (strong, inquisitorial tone of voice) = So? What\u2019s going on?
Allora!!!<\/strong> (strong, commanding tone of voice) = Stop messing about! \/ Shut up!
N.B.<\/strong> Allora<\/strong> comes from the Latin ad illam horam<\/strong><\/font> (literally: at that time)<\/em>, and we frequently use it with that meaning, e.g.: allora non c\u2019era ancora la televisione<\/strong> (at that time there still wasn\u2019t any television)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m cooked!<\/font><\/u>
If you\u2019re feeling very tired, especially mentally tired, here\u2019s a small collection of colourful expressions you might want to try:<\/p>\n

sono cotto\/a<\/strong> = I\u2019m done (literally: I\u2019m cooked)
<\/em>sono rimbambito\/a <\/strong>= to become like a baby again (literally: I\u2019m re-babyfied)<\/em>.
sono rincoglionito\/a <\/strong>= to loose one\u2019s marbles, from coglioni<\/strong> = testicles
sono  rincretinito\/a<\/strong> = to become a cretin with tiredness (literally: re-cretinfied)<\/em><\/p>\n

Odds & Ends
<\/font><\/u>sta a sentire<\/strong> or senti un po\u2019<\/strong> = listen a moment
stamattina<\/strong> (or stamane<\/strong>), sto pomeriggio<\/strong>, stasera<\/strong>, stanotte<\/strong>= this morning, this afternoon, this evening, tonight (sta<\/strong> and sto<\/strong> are short for questa\/o<\/strong> = this)
buond\u00ec<\/strong> = gooday N.B. –d\u00ec<\/strong><\/u> is from the Latin dies<\/font><\/strong><\/em> = day, e.g. luned\u00ec<\/u><\/strong> = Monday (literally: the day of the moon)
<\/em>ma pensa un po\u2019! \/ ma tu pensa!<\/strong> = I\u2019d never have thought it!, can you believe it? (literally: but just think about it for a moment!)<\/em> e.g.: cosa? Mario si \u00e8 fidanzato con Laura? ma pensa un po\u2019!<\/strong> (what? Mario has got engaged to Laura? can you believe it?
stammi bene<\/strong> (singular), statemi bene<\/strong> (plural) = take care (literally: stay me well)<\/em><\/p>\n

Allora, cari lettori, statemi bene.<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

It always seems a bit ironic to me that students of Italian put so much effort into learning their grammar, with all its convoluted rules and exceptions, only to be confronted with what appears to be a totally different language when they finally set foot in Italy. In fact, there is a vast difference between…<\/p>\n

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