Great article! I am definitely in the group you described, “with holes in my confidence.” If you have anyone complain to you about the pace at which they learn Italian, you can confidently tell them you know someone worse than them, me.
Many years ago while visiting a small comune in southern Calabria with my parents. My dad was born there. It was summer and in our hotel room there were no screens on the windows. I noticed that mosquitos would be flying in to make a night of restless sleep. So, I went down to the desk, and asked Giuseppe. "Signore, avete una macchina che puo ammazzare gli zingari? Of course, confusing le zanzare with gli zingari. Mannaggia!
Loved reading this and I see a book in the making, especially with the research into your genealogy! How fabulous to have these conversations. Altogether such a rich life!!!!
'Fon ... Manolo explains, derives from the German föhn, meaning a dry, hot wind. How utterly perfect! Leave it to the Italian language to adopt a poetic, descriptive term for an appliance instead of the mundane asciugacapelli (literally, “dry + hair”).'
Thank you! To add a few. My favourite foreign expressions are those difficult to translate easily, like Italian 'magari',or the French 'du coup' . This difficulty shows how the language reflects the way we think.
Speaking a foreign language is a bit like playing an instrument. As a nonprofessional one will have some wrong notes along the way, but you need to keep on trying through the mistakes. And one hopes improvement comes along eventually.
I so enjoy your writing, Cheryl! My latest language exchange, or intercambio, here in Spain was an impromptu car adventure with my fellow immigrants from our beginner Spanish language class. We visited nearby towns and castles and enjoyed conversing in Polish, Russian, Dutch, English and Spanish. The only common language between all of us was rudimentary Spanish but it all worked somehow. Nonstop laughs, breathtaking scenery, and delicious food made for a memorable adventure.
We had a Colomba for Easter. Pistachio. Got it right here in Aveiro too!
We have a little sweet shop owned by an Italian woman, Donatella. She is lovely and fun to chat with.
I would have called it an Easter Panettone. Pistachio cream in the middle and covered with dark chocolate and pistachio pieces. Crazy good. Delicious with a 10 year old Tawny Port!
Also, another term we used to use for being down in it in the restaurant biz, was being in the weeds.
Wonderful! The explanation of how names are translated was of special interest to me. Cheryl, do you know the (I'll say English) equivalent of Guido? I would love to know that! Meanwhile, Sono in alto mare!" :) That is one I will use alot!
My dialect has a lot of foreign influence: 𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐 for brother, from the Spanish 'hermano', and 𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 meaning a little road, from the French 'rue'.
But one I wanted to tell you about (I'm confirming with my sisters over whatsapp-technology is amazing), is FAONE which I swear is what my mother called a hot wind. Certainly sounds like the German word, non è vero? (LOL)
For "being swamped", maybe I watch too many cooking/restaurant shows, but I really like "being in the weeds" which may be derived from Moses as a baby in his basket. I dunno.
Great article! I am definitely in the group you described, “with holes in my confidence.” If you have anyone complain to you about the pace at which they learn Italian, you can confidently tell them you know someone worse than them, me.
Many years ago while visiting a small comune in southern Calabria with my parents. My dad was born there. It was summer and in our hotel room there were no screens on the windows. I noticed that mosquitos would be flying in to make a night of restless sleep. So, I went down to the desk, and asked Giuseppe. "Signore, avete una macchina che puo ammazzare gli zingari? Of course, confusing le zanzare with gli zingari. Mannaggia!
Loved reading this and I see a book in the making, especially with the research into your genealogy! How fabulous to have these conversations. Altogether such a rich life!!!!
Great read!
I particularly loved this charming explanation 😊
'Fon ... Manolo explains, derives from the German föhn, meaning a dry, hot wind. How utterly perfect! Leave it to the Italian language to adopt a poetic, descriptive term for an appliance instead of the mundane asciugacapelli (literally, “dry + hair”).'
Thank you for these! I love Italian so much, it’s on my list of things to focus more attention on learning this year
The word for hodgepodge is wonderful!
Thank you! To add a few. My favourite foreign expressions are those difficult to translate easily, like Italian 'magari',or the French 'du coup' . This difficulty shows how the language reflects the way we think.
Speaking a foreign language is a bit like playing an instrument. As a nonprofessional one will have some wrong notes along the way, but you need to keep on trying through the mistakes. And one hopes improvement comes along eventually.
I so enjoy your writing, Cheryl! My latest language exchange, or intercambio, here in Spain was an impromptu car adventure with my fellow immigrants from our beginner Spanish language class. We visited nearby towns and castles and enjoyed conversing in Polish, Russian, Dutch, English and Spanish. The only common language between all of us was rudimentary Spanish but it all worked somehow. Nonstop laughs, breathtaking scenery, and delicious food made for a memorable adventure.
Good one Cheryl! A fun and informative post.
We had a Colomba for Easter. Pistachio. Got it right here in Aveiro too!
We have a little sweet shop owned by an Italian woman, Donatella. She is lovely and fun to chat with.
I would have called it an Easter Panettone. Pistachio cream in the middle and covered with dark chocolate and pistachio pieces. Crazy good. Delicious with a 10 year old Tawny Port!
Also, another term we used to use for being down in it in the restaurant biz, was being in the weeds.
Take care.
Best to you.
Brilliant title on this post-- loved how those two ideas fit together! It's not so easy to write a guazzabuglio and come up with a title that works!
Wonderful! The explanation of how names are translated was of special interest to me. Cheryl, do you know the (I'll say English) equivalent of Guido? I would love to know that! Meanwhile, Sono in alto mare!" :) That is one I will use alot!
I think I would have to put patches on patches
My dialect has a lot of foreign influence: 𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐 for brother, from the Spanish 'hermano', and 𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 meaning a little road, from the French 'rue'.
But one I wanted to tell you about (I'm confirming with my sisters over whatsapp-technology is amazing), is FAONE which I swear is what my mother called a hot wind. Certainly sounds like the German word, non è vero? (LOL)
For "being swamped", maybe I watch too many cooking/restaurant shows, but I really like "being in the weeds" which may be derived from Moses as a baby in his basket. I dunno.