Funny, that.
I always thought the plural was panini’s.

Ann, shall we wince in unison for the apostrophe?

all together now...."wince"!

In the UK it is known as the "greengrocer's apostrophe" - as in "potato's £1/lb" for example. I've also seen "muffin's 80p each" in a bakery and so many other examples that in the end I hardly notice them.

Actually, I suspect Peter was making a sly joke.

Well, if the plural of souvlaki is souvlaki’s, I rest my case, y’r honour.

When in Rome, do as the Athenians do.

Actually, I suspect Peter was making a sly joke.>>

I was sure he was, bvl. if Aus is anything like the UK, he'll be tripping over such solecisms all the time.

It's been an unfortunate phenomenon here in France for decades. I can remember when "les pin's" were the most popular souvenir around. And a summer tooling around the wilds of the Lozère where farmers had signs outside their farms touting fromage's. You still see it today, and it still startle's me:)

Funny, St C, I never thought of the punctilious french falling into such linguistic traps. They are not alone, however.
One lesson at the language school in Bologna was about commonly made mistakes in Italian - apparently it's now so common for people to say "il zucchero" rather than "lo zucchero" that the Italian equivalent of "L' Academie Francaise" has given up and given "il zucchero" the green light. Oh, how standards have fallen.

There are so many linguistic pitfalls in any language, annhig, that I always feel I'm miles behind them, though I have spent most of my life studying languages. Our doorbell rang today around noon and there was a lady with a La Poste uniform on, who announced herself as "un facteur mandaté de vous offrir les consultations sur les rénovations énergétiques pour tout les habitants des Communes de La Vallée de l'Homme." We said sure, we'll take a free consultation (we're interested in solar stuff). So she got on the phone to the mairie that now oversees our commune and said "Bonjour, Madame, je suis factrice pour la commune de St-Cirq....."

And when she left she left us a flyer signed "Votre facteuse..."

WHT can keep track of this stuff?

I'm good, but not that good.

Hi everyone, Anniversary trip in November (Venice/Rome) with possible a sprinkle of Florence. Coming from Florida, I see the weather during that time of year isn’t Florida-ish. So, jackets, scarfs, and thermos are in order, right?

'puncticilious French - showing great attention to detail or correct behavior."

In my, granted limited, time in France has never told me or shown me that the French were any more or less puncticilous than other ethnic groups - especially correct behavior - anymore than other countries. Indeed here we have the idea - perhaps mistaken - that the English are the epitome of being puncticilious - based on a small slice of upper crust British properness we often see on tellie.

French do not for example queue like Brits have a reputation for say getting on buses, etc. French just orderly swarm aboard like in most countries.

French drivers certainly are less puncticilous than British. Many foreing traveler consider Paris as being dirty - rightly or not - London not so.

Annhig - what is so puncticilous about the French?

We're not talking about behavior, Pal, but about language.

Not to be punctilious about it, but its punctilious, not puncticilous.

There is no word puncticilious, as far as I know, Pal. You missed the point and worrdsmithery is not your stong point.

What a funny diversionary thread.

Arthur33, I went to Rome in December, and yes, you need a winter coat. Did you decide on which cities for sure? I disagree with those above who say "just do Rome." I don't think you want to spend your entire time in a big city. Beyond that, it's up to you.

bvlenci to add to Annhig's plural discussion, one of my own favorite Italian classes is when someone asked if the singular of spaghetti is spaghetto? Before the teacher could answer, another student said, "but who eats just one?" It really set us all off laughing.

Has anyone else ordered bruschetta in the USA and the waiter has tried to correct you on how to say it?

hi Art, might depend if it’s early or late November too; early October was beautiful. We just about died from the heat in museums. Now Canada and Florida are different for sure, but if it’s early november I’d take a lighter jacket and be more worried about cooler temps in the evening as the sun disappears. That’s when my black fleece comes out. We only had one quick afternoon shower in Rome, but a day of rain in Venice(the streets actually flooded). My wife always buys a nice scarf in europe, but you can pick up a cheap man-scarf there and look like a ‘local’, they all wear them! And very stylishly too. A shop person can show you the european way of tieing one!

Spaghetto - I love it!

Art, we were in Italy (granted, northern Italy) las November and early December and it was freezing! Also rainy with gale-force winds. I would pack for winter for sure. But yes, the museums, and some cafés and restaurants, can be overheated. You get used to layering and de-layering many times a day if you're moving around.

<< I see the weather during that time of year isn’t Florida-ish. So, jackets, scarfs, and thermos are in order, right?>>

Arthur - I was in Venice and Bologna in February this year and it varied from warm enough to sit outside when the sun was shining to extremely chilly. I took thermals [ in english english a thermos is a make of vacuum flask, and though you might find one of those useful, I doubt you'd be wearing it!] and a warm but light quilted jacket which I wore more or less constantly while I was outdoors. It does pay to layer as interiors can indeed be very warm but most museums etc have free garderobes or lockers where you can leave outer garments so you don't have to walk round burdened with coats, scarves etc.

Douglas - the "flooding" in Venice may well have been "aqua alta" i.e. the rise of water linked to the tides which happens mainly at the time of spring tides [as opposed to neap tides] throughout the year; it is especially bad at the time of the Spring and Autumn equinoxes when the moon is closest to the earth. It usually only affected that lowest lying parts of the city around San Marco and lasts a couple of hours either side of high tide. You can sign up for daily alerts from the Venetian maritime service if you want to. They can also cause "aqua bassa" which can be as much of a problem in its way as there may be insufficient water in some of the canals to allow the vaporetti and other water craft to pass along them. The authorities are very good at putting wooden walkways out for people to use to get about but it must be hard on the locals putting up with this several times a year.

St C - love the story about your faceuse/factrice/facteur. What do you think she should be calling herself BTW?

One jacket each and a scarf or two each -- yes. Thermos? I wouldn't! You'll find lots of wonderful places to stop for coffee (or).

Great advice everyone, I don’t want to overpack due to the fact I want to shop while we’re there. Should arrive late November til beginning December. Plan is to fly into Venice, spend two full days (not counting arrival day), take train to Roma, spend three full days, fly out of Rome. I was thinking on the way to Rome, maybe spend a day in Florence, which will take a day from Rome. Either way, we’re going to have a wonderful time and with all you guys expertise and experience makes it more looking at the glass half full than empty