Favorite Italian saying?
 

Tell me your favorite saying and its meaning. Maybe its funny or poignant. Is there a story behind why it means so much to you?

Ciao Bella....Hi Beautiful.....Makes me feel good.

I'm rather partial to waving my fist and yelling "Porca Madonna!"

An old, plump porter greeted my wife as "La Bella Senora" every time we visited and made her blush profusely. Sadly he passed away and I am much too old to make her blush.

Dolce far niente.
When I visit Italy, I spend time in cafes doing just that,

StCirq - will we get censored if I ask the meaning of that? It's not in my dictionary. I hate to assume...

Please translate your saying if possible...

"Porco, porco, porco!"

I was waiting for my husband in our hotel lobby in Rome and was "reading" an Italian newspaper. There was a one page story about JFK/RFK/Monroe that was styled after a comic book. In one of the frames Marilyn slams the phone down on JFK while shouting "Porco, porco, porco!" and throws herself down on the bed! It was very dramatic and I like saying it now whenever I feel myself hard done by the oppostie sex.

"Porco madonna" means so much more than the literal translation. It is actually very rude.

Porco does refer to pig, but is also used to refer to sex in a nasty way.

An Italian once told me that all the best Italian curses combine sex and God.

ahhh, excellent. I can always use another curse word that doesn't offend most of the people that hear it cause they don't know what it means. Just feels good to get it out.

whynada! Said to Us by a waiter when we asked for More Bread.

shorenougha! My Husband's grandma from Sicily favorite saying.

Yes, it is indeed quite rude, but sandi, you can always just say "La luna!" if you have the urge to yell.

Fuggedaboudit

Basta!

"I do not wear mass transit shoes!"

This was said by an irate Milan colleague after receiving a memo urging staff to take subways and buses instead of taxis when traveling on business. She yanked off her gorgeous high heels and thumped them on the exhibit stand for extra emphasis and then dramatically crumpled the memo and threw it into the trash.

As far as I know, everyone is still taking taxis.

Bello impossible

St Cirq,

Wouldn't it be "PorcA Madonna" instead? Madonna is feminine, so the qualifying adjective should also be in the feminine (a rule in romance languages...).

Brazilnut, StCirq DID say Porca Madonna.

"Osso Bucco Milanese". Uttered in exasperation by Kevin Kline in....what was that movie...

The fish called Wanda ( I think)

my reminisces go back to my hometown (Quincy, Mass.) with a very heavy Italian population. My uncle had a clothing store next door to a wonderful pixie of a man, an Italian cobbler. Each day the cobbler would go into my uncle's store and asked if he had eaten...my rather industrious uncle would usually say "no"..whereupon the cobbler would shake his finger at him and say "Hey, eat..and no die!"

Stu T.

Prego.

Said with a certain lilt, it can mean so many things, and no matter how many times I've heard it said, I always find it somehow to be the epitome of kindness.

'Please.'
'No problem.'
'Be my guest.'
'Thank you.'
And a zillion other translations, all gracious.

"You did not just lay that bloody horse's head on my Frette sheets. Putana!!!"

BTilke

Yes, you are right, but those quoting StCirq used "Porco" instead...Sorry!

Mama mia!! They do say that, I had to actually laugh when I first heard it in Italy.

To tell you the truth, my favourite Italian saying is "una pizza, per favore"...

"sta zitto" (shut up or be quiet) and also "uup la" (sp?) a cute way of saying "oops" when someone slips or falls. I have been using both terms for years and find them most amusing alternatives to their English counterparts.

I love "prego" because it sounds so polite and "pronto" (when answering the phone) because it sounds as if you are very attentive to the person who has called you.

The best one is "cin, cin" because it is used for a toast and that means that one is sipping a glass of wine!

Italian proverbs, from my narrow and remote recollection, have to be the silliest in the world:

"Chi va con lo zoppo impara a zoppicare"
"Acqua bagnata non maccina piu"
"La lingua batte dove il dente duole"

...which I translate as:

"Walk with a lame man, you learn to limp" (You're known by the company you keep)
"Wet water can't be processed" (Huh?)
"The tongue strikes where the tooth hurts" (Perhaps: The squeaky wheel gets the grease)

Bromides (if anyone still uses that term) worthy of Shakespeare's Polonius!

A favourite with Italian sailors:

"Grande cazzo!"

My grandmother used to slap her hand to her forehead when she was upset about something and exclaim, "Madonna mia."
Only to me, it sounded like "MaDTHOnamee"
So melodic, I couldn't reconcile the action with the words.

Such a beautiful language -- even when people express anger, it sounds like poetry.

Speaking of "sayings," I've always loved:

prendere due pigione con una fava...

Ahhh, mi piace, StCirq!

My mother in law would say "marrone" and slap her head and something like "mala nova" and put her finger tips together and shake her hand. Anyone know? She has passed on or I would ask her.

SeaUrchin, re: "marrone"
she was probably saying "Madonna!" (see my post above.) Only in Italian, the d sometimes comes out sounding "r"-ish in certain words.

Mala nova, I'm not sure about, though.
:)

Re: 'mala nova'

Maybe your mil was an attorney?
http://tinyurl.com/2q2tmn

And/or a philosopher?
http://tinyurl.com/2t9m46

;)

I love dolce nanna which means sweet sleep or sweet dreams.

"Osso Bucco Milanese" -- the Kevin Kline movie was "I Love You to Death." He was over-the-top hilarious as a stereotypical loving-but-unfaithful Italian married to an American (Tracy Ullman) who decides to kill him when she discovers his affairs...one of my favorite comedies. Happy ending, too!

Non mi rompere i coglioni - Don't bust my balls !

Only the Italians and more often than not the Romans can come up with something like this but if under pressure I must say it is a favourite of mine .

Author: LucieV
Date: 03/01/2007, 09:25 pm

SeaUrchin, re: "marrone"
she was probably saying "Madonna!" (see my post above.) Only in Italian, the d sometimes comes out sounding "r"-ish in certain words.

Mala nova, I'm not sure about, though.
:)

I grew up in Chicago and many Italians I grew up with, including my sister-in-law, said "Marrone."

I can picture her in my mind, with her hand to her forehead, muttering, "Ah, Marrone!"

I've only been to Italy once so I could easily have missed it, but I never heard anyone say "Marrone" in Italy. I did hear "Prego" a lot and it was my favorite Italian word there since it could be used in so many ways to mean different things.