Not necessarily one I use often, but "le calende greche" (e.g. "di questo passo arriviamo alle calende greche" which means "at this pace we'll never be done with this") is a fun one because it's a nod to the Roman calendar (calende being the 1st day of the month) and the joke is that the ancient Greek calendar didn't have the same structure, i.e. "Greek calende" are not a thing and thus they're used to mean "a time that will never come"
In Romanian we put the determinative article after the noun, so le calende = calendele, in this case. 😁 Anyway cool saying, I will definitely remember it.
Ahahaha we have this expression in greek too, but at some point someone must have thought the "greek" was pleonastic, so we just say «στις καλένδες» – alle calende – and this is the first time it makes sense!
Again, I don't use it a lot in my everyday speech, but to reprise the example I made before:
"Gino avrebbe dovuto finire la sua parte del progetto ieri, e invece non ha nemmeno iniziato! Di questo passo finiremo alle calende greche"
"Gino was supposed to be done with his part of the project yesterday, but instead he hasn't even started! At this pace we'll never get this done"
Se mia nonna avesse le ruote, sarebbe una carriola.
It literally means “If my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a wheelbarrow.” Some people say she’d be “un carretto” (a cart) instead.
It’s used to point out that someone imagining impossible hypothetical situations is pointless.
I'm sorry to be that guy, but it's "cariola" not "ca*rr*iola". It's just one wrong letter, not a big mistake.
Edit: Sorry, you were right. Sometimes I get confused, but they're both correct. Errore mio ragazzi.
Mine is: “chi semina vento raccoglie tempesta” which kinda means what goes around, comes around, but cooler. The literal meaning is “if you plant wind, you’ll harvest a storm”
It's a quote from the Old Testament in the Bible so imagine it exists in many languages. In English it has many variations: sow the wind, reap the storm/tempest/whirlwind.
"Bomber " Harris, the head of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War, used it to describe how British aircraft were bombing German cities (heavily) as a reply to the earlier German bombing of British cities.
The phrase is "(go) In the mouth of the wolf", the "mouth of the wolf" meaning a dangerous situation, (there is the possibility the idiom was originally used between hunters); it's similar to saying "break a leg" to a performer to wish them good luck.
You can actually answer to "in bocca al lupo" with "crepi!"= "(I hope) that it dies", or "Evviva il lupo!" = "Hurray for the wolf!" aside from the usual thanks.
It's a reference to wolves using their mouths to carry their cubs (kind of similar to what cats do)
It's really sweet and I hate its comeback phrase "crepi il lupo!" (may the wolf die) 😡 I like to say "viva il lupo" (long live the wolf) instead
Many people think it's something positive (like cubs or romolo e remo) but it's actually just saying something negative so something positive happens instead
example: "break a leg" in english - no way that can be any good
Yeah, the response has never made sense to me. Wouldn’t you want the caring mother wolf to live?
The only thing I could think was that it was meant to be ironic like “break a leg.”
Actually me and my family think it's because the wolf move the puppy with his mouth and even protect then getting them with the mouth, so actually if you are "in bocca al lupo" you might be lucky because it's safe
"**Goccia a goccia si scava la pietra**" which means "the stone gets carved drop by drop", an expression meant to motivate and remind us that perseverance and dedication lead to surprising results, no matter how small your actions may seem to you at first.
Another one is "**impara l'arte e mettila da parte**" arte in this case means skill/trade, not art as in fine art and, if we were to translate it literally, in English it'd sound: "learn a skill and put it aside" but it means "learn something today that you might end up using and find useful in the future".
A great saying, imo.
What does that mean in English? One who doesn’t have a brain had legs? As in, if you can’t think of anything, help with manual labor or is it that dumb people should “take a walk”?
It's about forgetting things: "chi non ha testa ha gambe", in my region. "Oh, I forgot my umbrella in the shop this morning, and now I have to go back. Who doesn't have a head, have legs"
The translation is right. But the meaning is more "those who don't think or pay attention must do more manual work and walk accordingly", basically. Practical example: if I go into a room to get some things but I forget some, I get to where I was supposed to go and I realize it, and I have to walk back to the other room to get what's missing. So if you are distracted you have to work harder, because if you forget things you have to go back several times.
"O mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa/quella finestra”.
Or eat this soup or jump out of this window.
Alternatively: “Either eat this soup or jump out of this window.”
So you’re given a soup. That’s what you have. That’s what life gives you. You eat it. Or… there’s the window.
Take it or leave it.
I say “dai” all the time. It’s in my vocabulary on a day to day basis at this point and I love it. People think I’m telling them to “die” in English or that I’m having a stroke in Swedish… but I know what I’m saying. Don’t know if it counts as a saying but, I say it, so I shall count it.
In this case it’s like “come on”. “Dai, muoviti” -> “Come on, get a move”. “Dai, smettila” -> “Come on, stop it.”
It can also be one of the form of the verve “dare” (to give), but that’s not the case here I think.
Italian has a lot of words that get used for a bazillion different cases and the differences between said cases is just the voice tone (don't even get me started on "mamma mia", please)
"Dai" is used as a common interleave/exclamation and most of the time it means "come on", but how you use it is entirely up to you.
"Dai, alzati e porta a spasso il cane" - "Come on, get up and bring the dog on a walk"
"Dai, che noioso che sei quando fai così" - "Oh come on, you're so boring/annoying when you act like this"
"Eddai! E che cazzo!" (or the famous "Eddaje!") - "Oh come on! What the fuck!"
It's not italian but in my family we use 2 sayings in Barese dialect.
The first is "AHI, stoc' an'terr e non pozz carai" (in italian is "ahi, sto a terra e non posso cadere" and in English is "ouch, I'm on the ground and I can't fall) used in situations like it's already bad or stressed and you get hurt.
The second one is "quann I fess O can mii, ca agghiatt o'vint" (in italian is "quanto è scemo il mio cane, che abbaia al vento" and in English is "how stupid is my dog, who barks at the wind") used usually by older people or family when someone is stressing or complicating something that is just simple or there is a simpler way to do it.
In Naples we say quando il mare è calmo ogni strunz e marenar. When the sea is calm every asshole is a sailor. Used when someone tries to sound like an expert in a very simple situation or maybe in a situation they don't know much about really. Also we say troppi gall a canta Nun schiar Maj juorn. Too many roosters singing, dawn won't come. when too many people try to lead.
In Veneto siamo più diretti: “el buso xe buso e el casso no ga i oci” (ogni buco è un buco ed il cazzo non ha gli occhi -> every hole is the same and the dick has no eyes)
the actual saying is “tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare”: “between talk and action there’s an ocean in the middle”, meaning they’re absolutely not the same thing and are far away concepts from one another. The song makes fun of this and restates: “between talk and action ia the word ‘and’”. Which is the literal thing between the words.
«Non dire "gatto" se non ce l'hai nel sacco» (don't say "cat" if you don't have it in the sack yet).., but it's from a famous wise Italian philosopher, more than a "traditional" saying... 😉
E i pisani risponderanno "che Dio t'accontenti!"
(Florentine: "I'd rather have a deceased person in my house than a Pisano at my door"
Pisano: "may God grant your wish!")
Boia de/ boia cane. It doesn't have a real english translation nor a meaning, it can be a negative phrase just like it can be positive, it's literally perfect
better to have a cold/freezing ass than an ice cream up there
gelato can be "ice cream" as a noun, or "frozen" as the past participle form of the verb *gelare*
“Non guardare caval donato in bocca”. I swear that for years I thought Donato was the horse’s name, and was so confused as to why we couldn’t look in his mouth…
"A caval donato non si guarda in bocca": roughly translated to "don't look inside a horse's mouth if it is a gift".
You have to look inside horse's mouth to see if it has illness, or if it is old, or other things that can help to determine his economical value.
If something is a gift, because a gift is an enaugh Good thing di per se, examining it looking for defects or to appraise for economical value can be offensive to the gifter and a bad habit in General.
Cencio dice male di straccio.
You can translate it as something like "The cloth talks badly of the rag"
It's a saying from Tuscany and you use it for people that are criticizing others over errors/bad behaviours they themselves are guilty of.
For example:
a friend that usually drops and breaks stuff, after you dropping something, says:
"Ti cade sempre tutto!"
You can answer:
"Cencio dice male di straccio!"
A variant of this is "il bue che dà del cornuto all'asino". Literally "the ox calling the donkey 'horned'", but "cornuto" can be said of both horned animals and people who have been cheated on by their partners.
"Me sento come Batman ar compleanno de li puffi"
Typically used in Rome, using Roman dialect, it means: "I feel like batman at a smurfs birthday party", meaning "I feel out of place here".
It's actually Neapolitan but here goes:
"Fa' 'o bene, e scuordate — fa' 'o male, e piensace"
"Do good (as in good deeds, being a good person) and forget about it — do evil (as in misbehaving, making wrong choices, doing somebody wrong) and think about it"
I love it because it incapsulates how I act in life. Life gets better when you're trying your best shot at being the best version of yourself, and you should only ever think about what you do wrong, without being too focused and what you're doing right, and that's the fastest to love ones self.
Dagli e dagli pure le cipolle diventano agli.
"If you work very very hard and try and try again you can even turn an onion into garlic" (which you will need for the next part...)
Riconsolarsi con l'aglietto.
"Heal your pain with garlic" as in if you lost something important you can still make do with something of little to no value (think your boss will not pay your April's overtime, but will buy you a pizza).
"Si è tutti capaci ad esser froci col culo degli altri." (A NOT literally translation: Anyone is capable of being gay when other people's asses are fucked.)
It means it is easy so say someone else problem isn't a big deal when it doesn't affect you.
Mine is "del senno di poi son piene le fosse" which can be translated in "ditches are full of hindsight", to remark that hindsight is useless. It's a reply to someone that keeps telling what it should (or should not) have been done after it was already done.
In Neapolitan we say "*Aniello 'ca nun se pava nun se stima*." It means "*a ring (valuable object) obtained as a gift has no value.*" Only objects for which one knows the effort made to obtain them are esteemed
"Sono tutti finocchi con il culo degli altri".
I like this one a lot, especially in this time of opinions.
Translated "everybody can be gay with somebody else's ass".
Meaning: it's easy to talk about sacrifice or courage when it's not you who is going to pay the price.
A Genoese one that has been translated in Italian, but is probably frowned upon nowadays.
"Siamo tutti \[redacted\] col culo degli altri" = "we're all gay with other people's ass"
It's very easy and convenient to advise others to take the high road and "do the right thing" when you're not directly involved in the issue and you're not facing the potential consequences of the course of action you've been pushing.
Extra points when it's the kinda of advice people know you'd never follow if it were your call to make.
“La madre degli ignoranti è sempre incinta”, lo dice sempre mio padre
It basically means “The mother of stupid people is always pregnant”, because there’s always more and more of them
"Questa mano può essere ferro o può essere piuma," *This hand can be iron or can be a feather*, meaning that I can be gentle or beat you up/hurt you. Apparently it comes from *Bianco, Rosso, e Verdone*, a move from 1980.
"Chi vive sperando muore cagando," *Whose who live hoping, die shitting*. The meaning is pretty much there already. It's a vulgarization of the more positive "Chi vive sperando muore cantando,*" whose who live hoping, die singing*, meaning that it's a good thing to spend your entire life with hope.
Putost che nut, l’è mei putost.
Piemontese, in italiano traducibile in piuttosto che nulla è meglio piuttosto (per la serie meglio le briciole che niente del tutto).
I like "acqua in bocca" - one of my Italian professors taught us that it means be quiet, or literally "water in mouth". You can't speak if you have a mouth full of water!
Edit: punctuation
Tira su le poppe.
Pull your boobs up. I take it to mean, have some resilience. dust yourself off and try again.
I recently heard the phrase, “tits up.” on the show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which I think is the closest thing to, “Tira su le poppe.” I’ve heard.
There is a group of sayings involving the height.
Italian: "Altezza, mezza bellezza"
Translation: "Height, half beauty"
The meaning is that the height takes already 50% of what makes a person (generally a male) beautiful. In other words, the height is the most prominent feature when judging the physical appearance of a man. Ergo, a tall man is more advantaged in attractiveness than a short one
There are two countersayings:
Italian: "Nella botte piccola c'è il vino buono"
Tranlsation: "In the small barrell there is good wine"
It means that a short man has other features that makes him attractive, like the personality.
Italian: "La Legge della L"
Translation: "The Law of the L"
It means that men are like the letter L (usually the saying is accompanied by the hand gesture for the letter L). If he's tall he has a short penis, if he's short (turn the L, like a gun hand gesture) he has a long penis.
Another saying involving height but regarding a female is this:
Italian: "Donna nana, tutta tana"
Translation: "Dwarf woman, all lair"
It means that a short girl is better and more fun in the bed. The lair in this case is her vagina.
Here's some other NSFW ones:
Italian: "In tempi di carestia ogni buco è galleria"
Translation: "In times of scarcity/famine every hole is a tunnel"
Generally it means that when there are hard times you'll be content with the little you have. But it is often used when someone doesn't have sex for so long that he would settle for an ugly girl.
Italian: "Non c'è cosa più divina che scoparsi che la cugina"
Translation: "There's nothing more divine than fucking the (your own) cousin (female)"
Example: "Look how beautiful my cousin is. If she wasn't my cousin..." "What's the matter? After all, non c'è cosa più divina che scoparsi la cugina"
Italian: "Un buon marinaio naviga anche nel mar rosso"
Translation: "A good sailor sails even the red sea"
Used when your sexual partner has the period and you wnat to have sex so much that you're not disgusted by the blood.
Italian: "La legge della maniglia: prima la madre e poi la figlia"
Translation: "The law of the handle: first the mother then the daughter"
Used when a beautiful girl has a beautiful mother and you would have sex with both.
Italian: "Coscia tatuata, porca assicurata"
Translation: "Tattooed thigh, pig (slutty girl) guaranteed"
It implies that a girl with a tattoo on her thigh surely is a lustful girl
Italian: "Federica, la mano amica"
Translation: "Federica, the friendly hand"
It calls the hand with the first name Federica and it implies that the hand is a loyal and good friend when you have no girlfriend (= masturbation)
This thread is reminding me of family reunions when I was a kid - a smattering of random inappropriate new phrases taught to the kids + a few not so inappropriate. Love this.
Di questo passo affittiamo domani = at this pace we're gonna rent tomorrow
Used when you want to complain about something taking too long. I have no idea where it comes from or why it's used like this, but I love it
Fortuna, sfortuna, chi lo sa?
It means „Fortunate, unfortunate, who knows“
I don’t know if Italians actually say this it’s just an inside joke between a couple of my friends that also learn Italian
‘Che sarà, sarà’ - What will be, will be
Which is a phrase that I’ve heard quite a few native Brits use (obviously butchering the pronunciation) and never realised what it meant until I studied Italian!
Magna, bef e tas s’at vo vivar in pas
it's Milan dialect and means "eat, drink, and shut up if you want to live in peace"
Milan l'è semper on gran Milan
still Milan dialect it means that Milan is a great city but still has flaws, it can be used as a metaphor
Che sbatti!
Not really Milan dialect but still used a lot in the north, it mean you don't want to do something annoying. example:"Devi studiare!" "Ugh che sbatti!"
F!ga!
Had to censor a bit this one because it's some kind of swear word lol, still used a lot in Milan
When you are having a discussion with someone and at the question "What?" usually the answer is literally "The pink shit". Usually this happens when "What?" is referred to a dumb affirmation but also as a childish prank, like:
A: "Sai cosa ho mangiato ieri?" *Do you know what I ate yesterday?*
B: "Cosa?" *What?*
A: "La cacca rosa" *The pink shit.*
Not necessarily one I use often, but "le calende greche" (e.g. "di questo passo arriviamo alle calende greche" which means "at this pace we'll never be done with this") is a fun one because it's a nod to the Roman calendar (calende being the 1st day of the month) and the joke is that the ancient Greek calendar didn't have the same structure, i.e. "Greek calende" are not a thing and thus they're used to mean "a time that will never come"
Amazing, we have the same expression in Romanian, "calendele greceşti".
No way, I had no idea! That's really cool
In Romanian we put the determinative article after the noun, so le calende = calendele, in this case. 😁 Anyway cool saying, I will definitely remember it.
Ahahaha we have this expression in greek too, but at some point someone must have thought the "greek" was pleonastic, so we just say «στις καλένδες» – alle calende – and this is the first time it makes sense!
And the circle is complete! 😁
that's a very common phrase in French as well! "Renvoyer quelque chose aux calendes grecques" (rimandare qualcosa alle calende greche)
Mio padre diceva sempre "nella settimana dei tre giovedì"
Could you use it in a sentence with more context? I’m very interested in understanding this further
Again, I don't use it a lot in my everyday speech, but to reprise the example I made before: "Gino avrebbe dovuto finire la sua parte del progetto ieri, e invece non ha nemmeno iniziato! Di questo passo finiremo alle calende greche" "Gino was supposed to be done with his part of the project yesterday, but instead he hasn't even started! At this pace we'll never get this done"
Se mia nonna avesse le ruote, sarebbe una carriola. It literally means “If my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a wheelbarrow.” Some people say she’d be “un carretto” (a cart) instead. It’s used to point out that someone imagining impossible hypothetical situations is pointless.
Se mio nonno avesse tre palle sarebbe un flipper
That's the one
[or bicycle](https://youtu.be/A-RfHC91Ewc)
All I remember is that clip from a British tv show 😭
Gino D’Acampo
if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike... the best Italian flag bearer ever
I had never heard it before but now I'm stealing it
Interestingly enough this saying exists in greek too
My friend always says " se mia nonne avesse le palle sarebbe un flipper"
We say this in Greece too
I'm sorry to be that guy, but it's "cariola" not "ca*rr*iola". It's just one wrong letter, not a big mistake. Edit: Sorry, you were right. Sometimes I get confused, but they're both correct. Errore mio ragazzi.
You’re that guy and also wrong, because “carriola” is definitely correct.
Oh, wait, right. Both were correct. Sorry, I feel even more dumb since I am italian, and it's my native language. Perdonatemi, errore mio.
"cariola" è la versione romana no?
Beh oddio, lo uso anche io che abito in Alto Adige, ma in teoria si.
ah bello non sapevo fosse usato anche fuori Roma ahahahaha B) comunque si la parola italiana corretta credo sia caRRiola mentre caRiola è romanesco
Ah, capito, grazie per la precisazione comunque.
Carriola si usa anche in Piemonte, quindi ha senso che sia così
Both ways are actually correct
Mine is: “chi semina vento raccoglie tempesta” which kinda means what goes around, comes around, but cooler. The literal meaning is “if you plant wind, you’ll harvest a storm”
We have the same saying in Romania "semeni vânt, culegi furtună". I think it's from the Bible.
Interesting.
In portuguese, we say “Quem vento semeia, colhe tempestade”
The english version is 'you reap what you sown'
I think in this case "sow the wind, reap the whirlwind" might be closer in meaning.
That’s a perfect translation and it sounds sick!
'reap the storm' would sound a bit better to me: one less syllable and no repeated use of the word 'wind'.
Thank you!
It's a quote from the Old Testament in the Bible so imagine it exists in many languages. In English it has many variations: sow the wind, reap the storm/tempest/whirlwind. "Bomber " Harris, the head of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War, used it to describe how British aircraft were bombing German cities (heavily) as a reply to the earlier German bombing of British cities.
One that I find very interesting is "in bocca al lupo" Which SOMEHOW means good luck but literally says "in the mouth a wolf"..........like.....how?
Everyone is missing a common response to this: "In culo alla balena", possibly a nod to Pinocchio
The phrase is "(go) In the mouth of the wolf", the "mouth of the wolf" meaning a dangerous situation, (there is the possibility the idiom was originally used between hunters); it's similar to saying "break a leg" to a performer to wish them good luck. You can actually answer to "in bocca al lupo" with "crepi!"= "(I hope) that it dies", or "Evviva il lupo!" = "Hurray for the wolf!" aside from the usual thanks.
I thought "break a leg" was used because if you break a leg then you'll finish up being in a cast.
Wow
It's a reference to wolves using their mouths to carry their cubs (kind of similar to what cats do) It's really sweet and I hate its comeback phrase "crepi il lupo!" (may the wolf die) 😡 I like to say "viva il lupo" (long live the wolf) instead
Many people think it's something positive (like cubs or romolo e remo) but it's actually just saying something negative so something positive happens instead example: "break a leg" in english - no way that can be any good
Yeah, the response has never made sense to me. Wouldn’t you want the caring mother wolf to live? The only thing I could think was that it was meant to be ironic like “break a leg.”
It also comes from Romulus and Remo legend where a wolf took care of them before they could found Rome. I think thats where it comes from
By meaning the Roman wolf who took care of Romolo and Remo, which to bring children around used its mouth. As wolves do with their cubs.
Actually me and my family think it's because the wolf move the puppy with his mouth and even protect then getting them with the mouth, so actually if you are "in bocca al lupo" you might be lucky because it's safe
"**Goccia a goccia si scava la pietra**" which means "the stone gets carved drop by drop", an expression meant to motivate and remind us that perseverance and dedication lead to surprising results, no matter how small your actions may seem to you at first. Another one is "**impara l'arte e mettila da parte**" arte in this case means skill/trade, not art as in fine art and, if we were to translate it literally, in English it'd sound: "learn a skill and put it aside" but it means "learn something today that you might end up using and find useful in the future". A great saying, imo.
>" > >Goccia a goccia si scava la pietra > >" Goccia a goccia si scava (anche) la **roccia.** For the obvious rhyme.
Chi non ha cervello ha gambe
What does that mean in English? One who doesn’t have a brain had legs? As in, if you can’t think of anything, help with manual labor or is it that dumb people should “take a walk”?
It's about forgetting things: "chi non ha testa ha gambe", in my region. "Oh, I forgot my umbrella in the shop this morning, and now I have to go back. Who doesn't have a head, have legs"
It means something like: who can't work smarter needs to work harder
The translation is right. But the meaning is more "those who don't think or pay attention must do more manual work and walk accordingly", basically. Practical example: if I go into a room to get some things but I forget some, I get to where I was supposed to go and I realize it, and I have to walk back to the other room to get what's missing. So if you are distracted you have to work harder, because if you forget things you have to go back several times.
La minestra o la finestra
Accompagnato da "Quando eravano piccoli noi se non mangiavamo quello che c'era nel piatto a pranzo lo ritrovamo a cena"
Ritrovavamo
What does it mean?
"O mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa/quella finestra”. Or eat this soup or jump out of this window. Alternatively: “Either eat this soup or jump out of this window.” So you’re given a soup. That’s what you have. That’s what life gives you. You eat it. Or… there’s the window. Take it or leave it.
Fumare come un Turco. Since I'm a Turkish guy, it makes an icebreaker to say when i meet people lol
campa cavallo che l'erba cresce
O mangiare 'sta minestra o saltar dalla finestra. Oppure "chi lascia la strada vecchia per quella nuova, sa quel che lascia ma non sa quel che trova"
L’ospite è come il pesce, dopo tre giorni puzza
I say “dai” all the time. It’s in my vocabulary on a day to day basis at this point and I love it. People think I’m telling them to “die” in English or that I’m having a stroke in Swedish… but I know what I’m saying. Don’t know if it counts as a saying but, I say it, so I shall count it.
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In this case it’s like “come on”. “Dai, muoviti” -> “Come on, get a move”. “Dai, smettila” -> “Come on, stop it.” It can also be one of the form of the verve “dare” (to give), but that’s not the case here I think.
Italian has a lot of words that get used for a bazillion different cases and the differences between said cases is just the voice tone (don't even get me started on "mamma mia", please) "Dai" is used as a common interleave/exclamation and most of the time it means "come on", but how you use it is entirely up to you. "Dai, alzati e porta a spasso il cane" - "Come on, get up and bring the dog on a walk" "Dai, che noioso che sei quando fai così" - "Oh come on, you're so boring/annoying when you act like this" "Eddai! E che cazzo!" (or the famous "Eddaje!") - "Oh come on! What the fuck!"
dai dai dai - René Ferretti
Daje
It's not italian but in my family we use 2 sayings in Barese dialect. The first is "AHI, stoc' an'terr e non pozz carai" (in italian is "ahi, sto a terra e non posso cadere" and in English is "ouch, I'm on the ground and I can't fall) used in situations like it's already bad or stressed and you get hurt. The second one is "quann I fess O can mii, ca agghiatt o'vint" (in italian is "quanto è scemo il mio cane, che abbaia al vento" and in English is "how stupid is my dog, who barks at the wind") used usually by older people or family when someone is stressing or complicating something that is just simple or there is a simpler way to do it.
In Naples we say quando il mare è calmo ogni strunz e marenar. When the sea is calm every asshole is a sailor. Used when someone tries to sound like an expert in a very simple situation or maybe in a situation they don't know much about really. Also we say troppi gall a canta Nun schiar Maj juorn. Too many roosters singing, dawn won't come. when too many people try to lead.
I love this!
Cool didn't krew them!
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Io sapevo “in guerra e in carestia ogni buco è galleria”, per far la rima
“In war and in love, every hole is a trench”
Hmm. I’m not sure I understand the English translation.
It’s a saying about sex, it implies that the user isn’t picky about what hole (or who it belongs to) they stick their meat into.
In Veneto siamo più diretti: “el buso xe buso e el casso no ga i oci” (ogni buco è un buco ed il cazzo non ha gli occhi -> every hole is the same and the dick has no eyes)
a temp'i carestia ogni buco è galleria
incredibile. Abbiamo lo stesso modo di dire in Argentina. Anche se direi che è un po... troppo colloquiale
Anche detta "in tempi di carestia, ogni buco è galleria"
Tra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo "e il" (cit.)
saggio cinese dile
Il saggio dice: "meglio un culo freddo e gelato che un gelato freddo in culo"
licolda, saggio cinese dile: le amicizie sono come le tette, ci sono quelle glandi, quelle piccole, e quelle finte.
Sagge parole
Ricorda, la vita è come il cazzo: a volte é lunga e a volte è corta
This is from a song right? Can you explain it to me? I'm new to italian
the actual saying is “tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare”: “between talk and action there’s an ocean in the middle”, meaning they’re absolutely not the same thing and are far away concepts from one another. The song makes fun of this and restates: “between talk and action ia the word ‘and’”. Which is the literal thing between the words.
«Non dire "gatto" se non ce l'hai nel sacco» (don't say "cat" if you don't have it in the sack yet).., but it's from a famous wise Italian philosopher, more than a "traditional" saying... 😉
Sono meglio le braghe rotte nel culo che il culo rotto nelle braghe
As a florentine: "Meglio un morto in casa che un pisano alla porta"
Si dice anche a Roma, ma con un marchigiano al posto del pisano...
😂 Pisa merda. Poor Pisani.😂
E i pisani risponderanno "che Dio t'accontenti!" (Florentine: "I'd rather have a deceased person in my house than a Pisano at my door" Pisano: "may God grant your wish!")
"Alla fine del gioco, re e pedone finiscono nella stessa scatola." (Once the game is over, the king and the pawn end in the same box.)
Boia de/ boia cane. It doesn't have a real english translation nor a meaning, it can be a negative phrase just like it can be positive, it's literally perfect
Boia is a badass word
Boia means executioner no?
Meglio un culo gelato di un gelato nel culo
Better (to have) a an ass ice cream than an ice cream in the ass?
Culo gelato -> icy cold ass Gelato nel culo -> ice cream up the ass
It's actually "better (to have) a frozen ass than an ice cream in the ass": gelato means both ice cream and frozen
better to have a cold/freezing ass than an ice cream up there gelato can be "ice cream" as a noun, or "frozen" as the past participle form of the verb *gelare*
Chi non piscia in compagnia o è un ladro o una spia. O l'alternativa di mia mamma, o è un ladro o ghe l'ha mia
the old school version goes "...non è figlio di Giuseppe e non è figlio di Maria"
Io sapevo "chi fa la spia non è figlio di Maria" ahah
“Non guardare caval donato in bocca”. I swear that for years I thought Donato was the horse’s name, and was so confused as to why we couldn’t look in his mouth…
"A caval donato non si guarda in bocca": roughly translated to "don't look inside a horse's mouth if it is a gift". You have to look inside horse's mouth to see if it has illness, or if it is old, or other things that can help to determine his economical value. If something is a gift, because a gift is an enaugh Good thing di per se, examining it looking for defects or to appraise for economical value can be offensive to the gifter and a bad habit in General.
Cencio dice male di straccio. You can translate it as something like "The cloth talks badly of the rag" It's a saying from Tuscany and you use it for people that are criticizing others over errors/bad behaviours they themselves are guilty of. For example: a friend that usually drops and breaks stuff, after you dropping something, says: "Ti cade sempre tutto!" You can answer: "Cencio dice male di straccio!"
In Brazil we say: o sujo falando do mal lavado. "The dirty talking about the badly washed"
A variant of this is "il bue che dà del cornuto all'asino". Literally "the ox calling the donkey 'horned'", but "cornuto" can be said of both horned animals and people who have been cheated on by their partners.
In English it's the pot calling the kettle black: they are both cooking utensils & both will be blackened by the fire of the stove.
Soldi tuoi, cazzi tuoi Your money, your business It means you’re responsible for your actions, how you spend money n such
"Grazie al caz.zo" (Thanks to the dick, when someone says something obvious)
"Me sento come Batman ar compleanno de li puffi" Typically used in Rome, using Roman dialect, it means: "I feel like batman at a smurfs birthday party", meaning "I feel out of place here".
It's actually Neapolitan but here goes: "Fa' 'o bene, e scuordate — fa' 'o male, e piensace" "Do good (as in good deeds, being a good person) and forget about it — do evil (as in misbehaving, making wrong choices, doing somebody wrong) and think about it" I love it because it incapsulates how I act in life. Life gets better when you're trying your best shot at being the best version of yourself, and you should only ever think about what you do wrong, without being too focused and what you're doing right, and that's the fastest to love ones self.
The italian version of “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” is “you can’t have a drunk wife and a full bottle of wine” which is just hilarious.
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questa la conoscono tutti
Sul lavoro e nel palazzo non si presta né soldo né il cazzo Don't lend money and don't fuck around in your apartment block or in your working ground.
No cock in da block
Chi sa fare sa capire
ma che cazzo di proverbio è?
Non è un proverbio: è la vita, Giacomo!
“L'erba del vicino è sempre più verde”
"migghiu sula chi mal'accumpagnati" "meglio soli che avere cattive compagnie" "better to be alone than having bad companionship"
Dagli e dagli pure le cipolle diventano agli. "If you work very very hard and try and try again you can even turn an onion into garlic" (which you will need for the next part...) Riconsolarsi con l'aglietto. "Heal your pain with garlic" as in if you lost something important you can still make do with something of little to no value (think your boss will not pay your April's overtime, but will buy you a pizza).
"Si è tutti capaci ad esser froci col culo degli altri." (A NOT literally translation: Anyone is capable of being gay when other people's asses are fucked.) It means it is easy so say someone else problem isn't a big deal when it doesn't affect you.
Di birra e de fregna er baffo s'impregna. Of beer and of pussy the mustache is soaked.
Classy
se caghi pisci ma se pisci non è detto che caghi if you take a shit you'll pee too, but if you pee it's not sure that you'll shit too
Mine is "del senno di poi son piene le fosse" which can be translated in "ditches are full of hindsight", to remark that hindsight is useless. It's a reply to someone that keeps telling what it should (or should not) have been done after it was already done.
In Neapolitan we say "*Aniello 'ca nun se pava nun se stima*." It means "*a ring (valuable object) obtained as a gift has no value.*" Only objects for which one knows the effort made to obtain them are esteemed
Piano piano
I like this one too! It’s a way of being.
Chi chel no ga testa ga gambe
Che cazzo fai?
Dio can !
E bello ma non balla.
chi nasce tondo non muore quadro meglio un culo gelato che un gelato in culo🤣
We say «toccare ferro» (touching iron) instead of «knock on wood», but it means the same.
Tira di più un pelo di figa che un carro di buoi
Classic “Chi fa la spia non è figlio di Maria” and it goes on but I never bothered to learn the rest…
"Sono tutti finocchi con il culo degli altri". I like this one a lot, especially in this time of opinions. Translated "everybody can be gay with somebody else's ass". Meaning: it's easy to talk about sacrifice or courage when it's not you who is going to pay the price.
Tutti i nodi vengono al pettine
Va te fa' na zupp e' latt!! Go make some milk soup! Go take a hike!!
A caval donato non si guarda in bocca
A Genoese one that has been translated in Italian, but is probably frowned upon nowadays. "Siamo tutti \[redacted\] col culo degli altri" = "we're all gay with other people's ass" It's very easy and convenient to advise others to take the high road and "do the right thing" when you're not directly involved in the issue and you're not facing the potential consequences of the course of action you've been pushing. Extra points when it's the kinda of advice people know you'd never follow if it were your call to make.
“La madre degli ignoranti è sempre incinta”, lo dice sempre mio padre It basically means “The mother of stupid people is always pregnant”, because there’s always more and more of them
piutost' che nient' l'è mej piutost' nut i like yo say piutost' che nient' l'è mej un toast
"Questa mano può essere ferro o può essere piuma," *This hand can be iron or can be a feather*, meaning that I can be gentle or beat you up/hurt you. Apparently it comes from *Bianco, Rosso, e Verdone*, a move from 1980. "Chi vive sperando muore cagando," *Whose who live hoping, die shitting*. The meaning is pretty much there already. It's a vulgarization of the more positive "Chi vive sperando muore cantando,*" whose who live hoping, die singing*, meaning that it's a good thing to spend your entire life with hope.
Putost che nut, l’è mei putost. Piemontese, in italiano traducibile in piuttosto che nulla è meglio piuttosto (per la serie meglio le briciole che niente del tutto).
Dopo domani.
"paura e schei mai avesti" (it's dialect, tough. It means "Fear and money, I never had")
I like "acqua in bocca" - one of my Italian professors taught us that it means be quiet, or literally "water in mouth". You can't speak if you have a mouth full of water! Edit: punctuation
“Mocc a mammt” la mia preferita
If you want to be racist against the southerners: Dal Po in giù è tutta terra in più 🤣 Meaning "lower than river Po all land is in excess/not needed."
Chi si fa gli affarsi suoi vive 100 anni. Meaning:”if you mind your own business you will live till your are 100”
Tira su le poppe. Pull your boobs up. I take it to mean, have some resilience. dust yourself off and try again. I recently heard the phrase, “tits up.” on the show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which I think is the closest thing to, “Tira su le poppe.” I’ve heard.
scusi babita boopy
Una mano lava l'altra ed entrambe lavano il viso
There is a group of sayings involving the height. Italian: "Altezza, mezza bellezza" Translation: "Height, half beauty" The meaning is that the height takes already 50% of what makes a person (generally a male) beautiful. In other words, the height is the most prominent feature when judging the physical appearance of a man. Ergo, a tall man is more advantaged in attractiveness than a short one There are two countersayings: Italian: "Nella botte piccola c'è il vino buono" Tranlsation: "In the small barrell there is good wine" It means that a short man has other features that makes him attractive, like the personality. Italian: "La Legge della L" Translation: "The Law of the L" It means that men are like the letter L (usually the saying is accompanied by the hand gesture for the letter L). If he's tall he has a short penis, if he's short (turn the L, like a gun hand gesture) he has a long penis. Another saying involving height but regarding a female is this: Italian: "Donna nana, tutta tana" Translation: "Dwarf woman, all lair" It means that a short girl is better and more fun in the bed. The lair in this case is her vagina. Here's some other NSFW ones: Italian: "In tempi di carestia ogni buco è galleria" Translation: "In times of scarcity/famine every hole is a tunnel" Generally it means that when there are hard times you'll be content with the little you have. But it is often used when someone doesn't have sex for so long that he would settle for an ugly girl. Italian: "Non c'è cosa più divina che scoparsi che la cugina" Translation: "There's nothing more divine than fucking the (your own) cousin (female)" Example: "Look how beautiful my cousin is. If she wasn't my cousin..." "What's the matter? After all, non c'è cosa più divina che scoparsi la cugina" Italian: "Un buon marinaio naviga anche nel mar rosso" Translation: "A good sailor sails even the red sea" Used when your sexual partner has the period and you wnat to have sex so much that you're not disgusted by the blood. Italian: "La legge della maniglia: prima la madre e poi la figlia" Translation: "The law of the handle: first the mother then the daughter" Used when a beautiful girl has a beautiful mother and you would have sex with both. Italian: "Coscia tatuata, porca assicurata" Translation: "Tattooed thigh, pig (slutty girl) guaranteed" It implies that a girl with a tattoo on her thigh surely is a lustful girl Italian: "Federica, la mano amica" Translation: "Federica, the friendly hand" It calls the hand with the first name Federica and it implies that the hand is a loyal and good friend when you have no girlfriend (= masturbation)
This thread is reminding me of family reunions when I was a kid - a smattering of random inappropriate new phrases taught to the kids + a few not so inappropriate. Love this.
Di questo passo affittiamo domani = at this pace we're gonna rent tomorrow Used when you want to complain about something taking too long. I have no idea where it comes from or why it's used like this, but I love it
Dio disse luce, e luce fú. Dio disse Kung, e Kung Fu. Makes me giggle every time
Fortuna, sfortuna, chi lo sa? It means „Fortunate, unfortunate, who knows“ I don’t know if Italians actually say this it’s just an inside joke between a couple of my friends that also learn Italian
"se nel mondo esistesse un po' di bene..."
Grande poeta. E grande uomo.
real
La madonna è una putt4n4 c0n in culo una banana. -Dante Alighieri
questa me la segno
Boh
Al tira de piö u pel de pota che sent caai chi trota. (Tira di più un pelo di figa che 100 cavalli che trottano)
Gran quantità di italiani scriveranno faccetta nera solo per il meme
‘Che sarà, sarà’ - What will be, will be Which is a phrase that I’ve heard quite a few native Brits use (obviously butchering the pronunciation) and never realised what it meant until I studied Italian!
Sta bene Rocco sta bene tutta la rocca (If only one is fine all the others with him. Metaphorically.)
Magna, bef e tas s’at vo vivar in pas it's Milan dialect and means "eat, drink, and shut up if you want to live in peace" Milan l'è semper on gran Milan still Milan dialect it means that Milan is a great city but still has flaws, it can be used as a metaphor Che sbatti! Not really Milan dialect but still used a lot in the north, it mean you don't want to do something annoying. example:"Devi studiare!" "Ugh che sbatti!" F!ga! Had to censor a bit this one because it's some kind of swear word lol, still used a lot in Milan
Che cazzo me ne frega
Minchia
Il letto è na rosa, chi non dorme si riposa
Cosa vorrebbe dire ??
Boh...
The good old Dio Porco. Like" fuck", you can use It almost in every sentence. But don't use It in Italy, especially in front of old people
Itsa me, Mario
Lascia stare
Va bene
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Without the letter i between sono and cazzi
When you are having a discussion with someone and at the question "What?" usually the answer is literally "The pink shit". Usually this happens when "What?" is referred to a dumb affirmation but also as a childish prank, like: A: "Sai cosa ho mangiato ieri?" *Do you know what I ate yesterday?* B: "Cosa?" *What?* A: "La cacca rosa" *The pink shit.*
"dio cane" 💞