One aspect of the Italian language that I really appreciate is how it incorporates food-related words into its expressions and idioms. It adds such a delicious dimension to their language and culture, don’t you agree?
Today I want to share one of my favorite Italian expressions that I incorporate so seamlessly into my speech that my son even started using it before he was three years old!This is an exclamation point so annoying! It can gently release frustration and provide a more elegant alternative to rude words.
so annoying!
How painful/boring!
wonder why this word pizza? Opinions vary as to the exact reasons. Some claim this is caused by the tedium of waiting for the dough to rise (a process that can take hours or even days).Others suggest a connection to another meaning pizza, a reference to the metal cans in which film rolls were stored during movie theater screenings, suggesting that films could be long and dull.Some people directly said that this is a euphemism tray (Literally meaning “ball” in Italian slang), because both words begin with the letter P.
so annoying! I don’t want to do my homework now!
What a pain! I don’t want to do my homework now!
There are many other examples of swear words being replaced by more polite alternatives in Italian. For example, What the hell Literally means “what a good cabbage”, dirty uncle Literally means “Pork Uncle”.In these cases, the explicit word will be replaced by cabbage For the former and uncle For the latter, allow for safer expressions that won’t get you slapped by your mom!
As you start speaking Italian more and more, you are bound to come across some expressions similar to the following:
- How boring! =Literally means “What a beautiful beard!”
- How boring! =Literally means “How boring!”
- What a mess! =Literally means “What a scab/scabies!”
- What a pain (butt)! =Literally means “How broken (the box) is!”
- That trouble! =Literally means “How annoying!”
Heather Broster is a graduate with honors in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, fluent in English and Italian, as well as varying degrees of fluency in Japanese, Welsh and French. Originally from Toronto, Heather has lived in several countries, notably Italy for six years. Her main research areas are language acquisition, education and bilingual teaching.
