{"id":894,"date":"2011-08-15T14:02:28","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T14:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=894"},"modified":"2011-08-15T14:12:26","modified_gmt":"2011-08-15T14:12:26","slug":"piccante-piccante","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/piccante-piccante\/","title":{"rendered":"Piccante Piccante"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I was doing a bit of shopping in our local supermercato<\/strong> when I spotted some nice looking cheese in offerta<\/strong> (on offer): Pecorino Piccante 11,90 euro al chilo<\/strong> – spicy hot pecorino 11.90 euros a kilo.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cCom\u2019\u00e8 questo formaggio?\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cwhat\u2019s this cheese like?\u201d I asked one of the ladies at the cheese counter<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cPiccante piccante!\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cvery hot\u201d she replied, prompting Geoff to remark \u201cma sull\u2019etichetta dice solo piccante, invece ci dici che \u00e8 piccante piccante!\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 \u201cbut on the label it only say hot, however you\u2019re telling us that it\u2019s hot hot!\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n

Luckily the people in the supermarket know us well enough to appreciate Geoff\u2019s \u2018English humour\u2019.<\/font><\/p>\n

Later, Geoff remarked upon the Italian passion for repetition as a means of reinforcing certain qualities. It would seem more correct, and perhaps even more typically Italian to a foreigner if we said piccantissimo<\/strong>, or molto piccante<\/strong>. And yet piccante piccante<\/strong> seems to express the hotness of the cheese much better. Let\u2019s have a look at some of the ways in which we use repetitions as a form of emphasis here in Italy:<\/font><\/p>\n

Ascoltando ogni giorno un po\u2019 d\u2019italiano piano piano<\/u> sto migliorando<\/strong> – listening to a bit of Italian every day I\u2019m gradually<\/u> improving. Piano piano<\/strong>, often shortened to pian piano<\/strong>, or pian pianino<\/strong> is used very frequently in conversation. In this case the repetition of piano<\/strong> gives a sense of something happening gradually, and is preferred over pianissimo<\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Annalisa ha trovato un gattino piccino piccino<\/u><\/strong> – Annalisa found a little tiny<\/u> kitten. Piccino piccino<\/strong> seems to describe both the smallnes of the cat, and perhaps even its cuteness. It would be expressed with a lot of affection or tenderness.<\/font><\/p>\n

Quel cane ha bisogno di tanto tanto<\/u> affetto<\/strong> \u2013 that dog needs loads<\/u> of affection<\/font><\/p>\n

Marco ha mangiato un gelato grande grande<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Marco ate a really huge<\/u> ice cream<\/font><\/p>\n

Mi sento debole debole<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 I feel extremely<\/u> weak<\/font><\/p>\n

Quando siamo andati al circo abbiamo visto un uomo forte forte<\/u> che ha sollevato una signora con una mano sola!<\/strong> \u2013 when we went to the circus we saw a really strong<\/u> man who lifted up a lady with just one hand!<\/font><\/p>\n

Giovanna quando lavora \u00e8 precisa precisa<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Giovanna is extremely precise<\/u> in her work<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00c8 stato veloce veloce<\/u> a finire il lavoro<\/strong> \u2013 he finished the work very quickly<\/u>.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s leave the last word to one of national poets: Jovanotti. Click on the link below<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Tanto Tanto Tanto<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I was doing a bit of shopping in our local supermercato when I spotted some nice looking cheese in offerta (on offer): Pecorino Piccante 11,90 euro al chilo – spicy hot pecorino 11.90 euros a kilo. \u201cCom\u2019\u00e8 questo formaggio?\u201d \u2013 \u201cwhat\u2019s this cheese like?\u201d I asked one of the ladies at…<\/p>\n

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