Comments on: Italian Slang: C

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:18:33 +0000

Neil, I can’t tell you how to spell tootsoon but I can tell you what it means. It was explained to me over dinner on the top of a castle in Grottommare in Le Marche. It means the blackened end of a stick that is used to stir embers around in a fire. I was assured that it is used more in the Chicago area than in Italy. Pop culture reference is during the first season of The Sopranos, Tony’s mother Livia used the term when she thought her caretaker was stealing from her.

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 16 May 2011 21:16:35 +0000

I remember as a kid one of my relativews drove me through an all black neighborhood and he blurted out, “tutti zizoon!” I know tutti means all but have no idea what the definition of a zizoon is. Has anybody ever heard of this word?

By: Serena

Serena — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:55:34 +0000

In fact the expression “alle cozze” is used here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salento

Greetings
Serena

By: peter

peter — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:29:57 +0000

i have heard the saying :
va fan culo
meaning something like “go to hell”.
(70 km east of torino)

By: Geof

Geof — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:14:44 +0000

One of my italian friend told me this “sono sicura che sarai un cicalone” during a conversation about how I’ll look like after a haircut. I wonder what “cicalone” stands for. She is probably kidding and she told me it was slang italian coming from the region she lives in. She also told me it’s a positive meaning word and they usually they this to the guys ! Thanks in advance for your help

By: Eleonora

Eleonora — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Scorfano (scorpion-fish)= extremely ugly guy…

scorfana=cozza

p.s. the phrase “alle cozze” is probably a regional variant. Never heard in Standard Italian or in the Roman dialect…

By: eleonora

eleonora — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:32:18 +0000

My dear Deidré,

you don’t say “Fa i cazzi tuoi “, but “Fatti i cazzi tuoi”

By: Pastrunco

Pastrunco — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:41:26 +0000

I’m italian…”basame el chiù” means “kiss my ass”

By: Asriel

Asriel — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:06:46 +0000

I think she was sayng someting like “Basame el chiù”, she was not speaking standard italian, she was speaking the dialect of the piemonte area, wich I don’t know. I have no Idea of what could be “Caduta”… Only someone who live in or near Turin could know what she was actually saying.

By: Glen Copper

Glen Copper — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:57:32 +0000

My mother’s family came from a very small place in Piemonte in 1897. She used two Italian words or phrases when she was angry. Caduta and Bossa ma chi (I don’t know if I’m spelling correctly for she never wrote them down.) But she said they translated into “Shit” and “kiss my ass.” respectively. I know that caduta means to fall and i can see the connection there, and assumed that Bossa translated as “to kiss.” I was hoping someone could correct or affirm my assumptions.