Proverbially Speaking

A contrived conversation stuffed with Italian sayings

A restaurant in Assisi got into the sayings game. Photo mine.

Cari amici,

Last week I heard a new-to-me Italian saying that I love—la gatta frettolosa fa i gattini ciechi (the cat in a hurry gives birth to blind kittens)—and it sent me looking for more. Having found plenty, I figured I should share them with you. Some of them you’ll recognize as nearly identical to their English counterparts; others express similar ideas in different ways. To me, sayings are like little windows into the Italian way of seeing the world, because how we speak reflects how we think, kind of like little nuggets of language and culture rolled into one.

Rather than list the sayings out of context, I wrote some painfully bad dialogue—intentionally bad, since it would be difficult to make it good—designed solely to deliver as many Italian sayings as possible in a mercifully short exchange. Is it worse than the dialogues in Italian language textbooks? Yes? Good!

Most of these sayings are used throughout Italy, but some are regional (though I suspect they’d be understood anywhere), and they’re a great way to add color to your daily conversations in Italian. Just do me a favor and please, for the love of pasta, don’t end up like Matteo.

EXT – STREET IN BROOKLYN, NY, OUTSIDE A PIZZERIA – DAY

Matteo: Ciao Angela, how’s it going?

Angela: Eh, you don’t want to know.

Matteo: Sure I do. Mal comune mezzo gaudio.¹  

Angela: I know, I know. I’m stressing about my plan to move to Italy—every time I think I’ve got it all figured out, I hit another roadblock. I just want it to be over!

Matteo: Oh man, that sounds frustrating. One step at a time. La gatta frettolosa fa i gattini ciechi.²

Angela: Seriously, I was happier before I knew how complicated this whole process is. Occhio non vede, cuore non duole,³ right?

Matteo: I hear you! Just wing it and hope it all works out, right? Would be nice. Just this morning I heard it can be really hard to find an apartment in some cities. Short-term rentals are putting a real hole in the inventory.

Angela: [yelling] That is infuriating! Thanks a lot, Matteo. I’m so sick of bad news, just once I’d like to hear something encouraging.

Matteo: Hey, don’t blame me! Ambasciator non porta pena.⁴

Angela: [sighs] All I want is a chance at la dolce vita without having to jump through so many hoops. I want the visa without all the stress.

Matteo: Non si può avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca.⁵

Angela: No kidding. I don’t know, maybe I’ll forget about a visa and just go for 90 days out of 180. It wouldn’t be the same, though.

Matteo: It’s a tough decision; I’d sleep on it. La notte porta consiglio.⁶

Angela: If I can sleep. My brain is like a Tilt-A-Whirl these days! This weekend I was going to attend a webinar about visa options and the application process, but I might skip it. I’m so tired.

Matteo: You should absolutely do it. Ogni lasciata è persa.⁷

Angela: Yeah, I know. But seriously, if I could figure out a way to lie about my finances, I’d do it.

Matteo: [horrified] You’re joking, right? Remember, le bugie hanno le gambe corte.⁸ 

Angela: [rolls her eyes] Yes, kidding. [suddenly tearful] It’s just that at this point I really don’t believe I’ll ever get a visa.

Matteo: Finché c’è vita, c’è speranza!⁹

Angela: [glumly] I hope so. Well, thanks for the inspiration. I guess I’ll start organizing my application materials today.

Matteo: Good! Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo,¹⁰ as my mother used to say. And listen, Angela, you’ve got this! Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano.¹¹

Angela: Geez, do you have a saying for everything?

Matteo: Pretty much. I can’t seem to kick the habit even though everyone hates me for it. [shrugs] Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio.¹²

Angela: It’s super annoying. I know they say chi nasce tondo non può morir quadrato, but you really should try, Matteo. Ciao, a dopo!

Translations:

¹ Mal comune mezzo gaudio. Your troubles will be more bearable if you share them with someone (literally, a bad thing shared, half joy).

² La gatta frettolosa fa i gattini ciechi. Have patience, haste makes waster (literally, the cat in a hurry gives birth to blind kittens).

³ Occhio non vede, cuore non duole. What you don’t know won’t hurt you (literally, the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t hurt).

⁴ Ambasciator non porta pena! Don’t shoot the messenger.

⁵ Non si può avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca. You can’t have your cake and eat it too (literally, you can’t have a full wine barrel and a drunk wife).

⁶ La notte porta consiglio. It’s best to sleep on a tough decision (literally, the night brings counsel).

⁷ Ogni lasciata è persa. Seize the moment (literally, everything left is lost).

⁸ Le bugie hanno le gambe corte. You won’t get far by lying (literally, lies have short legs).

⁹ Finché c’è vita, c’è speranza! As long as there is life, there is hope!

¹⁰ Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today (literally, who has time shouldn’t wait for time).

¹¹ Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano. Slow and steady wins the race (literally, he who goes slowly goes safely and far).

¹² Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio. Old habits die hard (literally, the wolf loses his fur but not his vice).

¹³ Chi nasce tondo non può morir quadrato. People don’t change (literally, he who is born round can’t die square).

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Did you find a saying you like? Let me know in the comments. And hit the “like” button if you’d like a post about figures of speech at some point.

Alla prossima—

Cheryl

© 2023 Cheryl A. Ossola

Poems of the week:

• “A Word Is Dead” by Emily Dickinson

• “A Language” by Susan Stewart

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