You may be preparing the trip to Italy of your dreams and learning a little Italian to be able to get along with the inhabitants of Rome, Venice or Florence. However, with a few words it is not enough, because in order to understand Italian well you need to learn some basic that could confuse you at first sight, since in Spanish they have quite a different meaning than the way they are used. So that you are not caught off guard, we tell you what are the Italian expressions and words that you have to know and we reveal their translation and meaning. Here they go!
The most popular and curious Italian expressions
Every self-respecting Italian knows these expressions very well and you, if you are learning the language, should know them too. Aim!
1Avere le main became
Translation: have holes in your hands.
Meaning: although it literally means ‘to have holes in your hands’, this curious expression is used to tell someone that they spend money too quickly, that is, that money slips out of their hands.
2hurt the nose
Translation: curl the nose.
Meaning: If you don’t know that this expression means ‘to play the snob’, you could probably be shocked if they told you that in Italy, because the meaning in Spanish has more to do with noses than anything else.
3I am a friend of the Giaguaro
Translation: be friends with the jaguar.
Meaning: don’t go crazy looking for the literal meaning of this Italian expression in the dictionary, because it means ‘to be friends with the jaguar’. It is usually used when it is said that someone is of the enemy.
4 to Masaccio
Translation: crazy.
Meaning: when something is ‘a Masaccio’, done haphazardly, that is, it is done without order, without thinking, without a good organization for it.
5I will get the fight
Translation: throw away the sponge.
Meaning: It’s the Italian version of ‘throw in the towel’, that is, feeling.
6 Stare with the hand in hand
Translation: to be with hands in hand.
Meaning: what do you think a person does when they are hands on hand? Exactly, nothing at all. This expression is used when you want to tell someone not to sit idly by.
7 Petro turns indictor
Translation: Petro, come back.
Meaning: don’t think that if someone tells you this expression in Italian it means that they are calling Petro. Actually, Petro is the name they give to borrowed things. When someone lends you something and says ‘Petro, turn indictor’, they are asking you to return it, something like ‘I’ll lend it to you, but I want it back’.
8 That baby is a scricciolo
Translation: that child is a wren.
Meaning: do not think wrong, a wren or scricciolo is a small bird of the troglodytes family, which is very fast and pizpireta. Therefore, when a child is a scricciolo it means that he slips away too easily.
9 Non è Vero, credit veramente a tutor! Be a chicken
Translation: It’s not true, you believe everything! You are a chicken.
Meaning: why are chickens naive for Italians? It is something that we do not know, but the truth is that when they call someone chicken they are telling them that they believe everything.
10say point in white
Translation: point blank.
Meaning: this curious expression is used when something takes you by surprise or something happens suddenly without you expecting it, that is, ‘di point in white’.
Eleven Water in mouth!
Translation: Water in the mouth!
Meaning: gossip is the daily life of Italians, because they adore gossip, but when they want someone not to gossip with some gossip that they are telling them, they say this expression. Something likes ‘don’t tell anyone’.
12I don’t know how to have a mouthful of eyes
Translation: you are not able to keep a chickpea in your mouth.
Meaning: when people do not have water in their mouths, that is, they are not able to shut up even the slightest gossip. In other words, they don’t keep their mouths shut, they.
13Avere UN diazole per cello
Translation: have the devil for hair.
Meaning: can you imagine having the devil on your head instead of hair? What feeling do you think you would have? Well yes, you would probably be terribly angry, so much that you would be scary.
14 be a bomber
Translation: you are a Pichincha.
Meaning: any Italian who tells you this means that he likes you very much because it means that you are the best, the bomb, a crack, in short, someone incredible.
Fifteen in meat and bear
Translation: in the flesh and blood.
Meaning: yes, in Italy this Spanish expression is also used, which means that someone is physically present at a given moment.
16 Rider sotto i buffy
Translation: laugh under the whiskers.
Meaning: You know those times when you want to laugh at someone but without it showing? This is what, because if you have a big mustache, according to the Italians you can use it to hide your lips while laughing at someone. A slightly far-fetched expression, but very comical.
17Filarsela all ‘ ingles
Translation: take them to English.
Meaning: It seems that the English punctuality has a counterpart in this Italian expression that means leaving a place without anyone noticing, that is, without saying goodbye.
18 My horse of battalion
Translation: it’s my workhorse.
Meaning: no, the Italians don’t continue trotting throughlifeto conquer the world, but this expression has stuck with them to refer to what they are best at, that in which every person excels. In other words, it could be translated as ‘it’s my forte’. For example: ‘la musical è ill miso cavalla di battalion’ (music is my forte).
19 bequeath it to the ditto
Translation: tie it to your finger.
Meaning: It is said that Italians are somewhat spiteful, so much so that they have this expression to remember something that has been done to them and thus be able to take revenge later.
Biblical Reference Italian Sayings
Italy is the cradle of Catholicism, so it is not surprising that many of its colloquial expressions refer to religion, although they are used for the most curious things. We have compiled some of them. You will love it.
Twenty Ad gone more di Papa
Translation: every death of the Pope.
Meaning: how could it be otherwise, many Italian expressions are related to the Catholic Church? For example, this means ‘very rarely’, because in fact very rarely does the Pope die. Curious, right?
Twenty one I will breathe the morning of heaven
Translation: wait for manna from heaven.
Meaning: When someone waits for manna from heaven (a reference to the Old Testament), it means that you are patiently waiting for something to come true by itself.
22 Aver quiche Santo in Paradise
Translation: have some saint in Paradise.
Meaning: this biblical expression has nothing holy, because it is used to talk about someone well recommended by someone in a powerful position. The classic having a Spanish outlet or being high in.
23 Brute eat i settee pectin capital
Translation: ugly as the seven deadly sins.
Meaning: poor to be told this because it really means what you are imagining, to be someone very, very ugly.
24 Essene sully via di Damascus
Translation: be on the road to Damascus.
Meaning: Imagine someone who has done something wrong and still doesn’t admit it but is about to confess… being close to repentance or conversion.
25 IL bacon di Gouda
Translation: the kiss of Judas.
Meaning: an international expression because the kiss of Judas means the same in Italian as in any language, it is the ‘kiss’ that they give you before betrayal.
