“in culo alla balena”: maybe it was originated from a sort of game of putting together opposites of the words that together make an idiom. one may ask: what’s the opposite of a wolf? well, say an animal that live in different ambient (water), is different in size and behavior, has something strange that will help to impress and also goes along well when pronouncing it. balena (whale) will do. and what’s another body part where one could go? supposedly a whale’s one should be big enough to accomodate peoples.
the common answer to “in culo alla balena” (like in: “in bocca al lupo” - “crepi”) is “speriamo ce l’abbia pulito”, “let’s hope it is (she keep it) clean”.
about the hairs on the stomach: I’ve always heard and read it as “peli sullo *stomaco*”, never as “peli sulla pancia”.
another idiom that involves stomach or belly is a sicilian one that anyway has spread nationally: “omo de panza” (dialect - not sicilian anyway - for “uomo di pancia”, something like “big bellied man”). in the sicilian meaning is for a man that keep everithing inside him, so a trustworthy one, one that is not going to talk about secrets. sometimes there’s a rhyme: omo de panza omo de sostanza”, “bellied man, full of substance”, where substance may be plain material wealth or generical good attributes.
the pope that reigned for such a short period is not John Paul II, papa Woitila, but John Paul I (first), papa Luciani. He choose his name by joining the names of his illustrious predecessors, John XXIII (papa Roncalli) and Paul VI (papa Montini) whose papacy had very important effects on the Church, as a sort of vote to continue their work.
Good evening, I have an unusual question. My mother and her sister have taught my 5 year old to say “goofer dama soey fraca muchie” I have no idea what the spelling is, nor if it means anything. My mother said HER grandmother told her a neighbor used to say it to her.
Please let me know if this is something my Daughter should, or should not be saying. I do not want her to offend anyone.
Well, just a specification…
the answer i know to “in culo alla balena” (like in: “in bocca al lupo” - “crepi”) is “speriamo che caghi , “let’s hope she’s going to shit”, an ugly solution to be freed…
I didn’t ever hear “speriamo ce l’abbia pulito”, “let’s hope it is (she keep it) clean”, maybe i grew up in bad company :).
Meanwhile i’d like to use “she” as pronoun for a whale (or he if a male?).
Whales are higly self-awareness beings, maybe more than dolphins, and it’s a shame that we keep hunting them…(well i adore Melville’s Moby Dick, is that a contradiction?)
Significa che attraverso il volto di una persona si vede com’è dentro. Com’è la sua anima. La faccia di una persona è uno specchio in cui si riflette la sua anima. Spero di essermi spiegata.
Oh I think I misunderstood the question, I was answering the 1st comment, but I guess you are looking for italian idioms… here are a few:
acqua cheta rompe ponti - calm water breakes bridges
meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani - it’s better to have and egg today that the promise of a cick tomorrow
a buon intenditor poche parole
pietra che ruzzola non fa muschio - rocks who rolls doesn’t make “muschio”?!
A friend of mine told me that: “I was not the kind of flour that would be used for making the holy sacrament bread!” Naturally, I took offence to this! Then, he proceeded to tell me that he was just being a good friend! I do not understand this one. To me, it says that you do not possess the fine qualities that we would use to make something even better………..how rude! Totally offensive! Then, he told me that I couldn’t understand the Italian meaning behind it! It was a popular Italian saying! Please help!
A couple of favorites:
Chi troppo vuole non l’ottiene- If you want too much you won’t get it.
Mangi la minestra o salt’dalla finestra- Eat the soup or jump out the window; IE my way or the highway.
Renee, your friend was not trying to offend you, it’s a sardonic way of saying that you’re not goody two-shoes, or even that you don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Many Italians have a deep distrust of the church and there are a lot of idioms that express that.
“In Bocca di Lupo” refers to Romulus and Remus who were suckled by the she-wolf when they flew from Greece to Rome. Romulus became the twin for whom Rome was named; therefore to be in the mouth of the wolf means that you are nurtured and taken care of.
My mother use to always say “in casa di bats” I know the spelling is off, but she meant the house of crazy people–I think the correct word is batso?!
One of my favorite that I learned in Italian class in high school:
“Tutti i gusti sono gusti.” To each his own taste.
There is a proverb the beginning of which is “Egli ch ridi
senza causa….” I don’t know the last part. Perhaps you can help. I believe the translation is “He who laughs without cause……… Sincerely, Joseph Gangemi
First of all I don’t speak Italian and am not a good speller even in English. My father used to use the expression see Naples and die. This was as close as he came to bad language. I never got it, but I think it is similer to go to hell in English.
Domenic Tarducci
Actually, as far as I know it’s meant to a compliment to Naples: once you’ve seen the city, there is nothing more wonderful in the world left to see. Unfortunately, these days it tends to be used ironically…
“in culo alla balena” “up the bum of the whale” is a rather rude expression not to be used in polite company, but I was always led to believe it was a strictly Theatrical term used in the same way as “Break a leg”… with reply “spero che non caca” “hope it doesn’t poo” being an ironic answer. It has become more common to use it outwith but only between friends.
I’ve always loved “porca la miseria” literally “pork the misery” when you are exasperated or fed up by something. There are other varients on the same theme. For example: “porco dio” only when you are really, really peeved. Heard it only once in public on the metro in Rome as a man with a broken leg, was being trampled on by rush hour passengers. After a few mutterings he just cried out “prorrrrccco DIO, c’ho la gamba rotta, dammi spazio” the whole carriage fell silent.
Here are a few from Abbruzzo
Pane e panello caccia figli’ bello. Pane senza mazza caccia figli’ pazza.
(Bread and a board makes beautiful children. Bread without the switch makes for crazy kids.
Fregatura! Rip-off.
I’m trying to recall a phrase, “… finito” for the end of an impassioned argument or polemic, to indicate that one is now getting off of one’s high horse. Any clues?
Acqua di rosa. I heard three opinions on this phrase.
1. morning dew on a rose indicating purity or freshness.
2. liquid extracted from roses to make perfume.
3. something superficial, not to be takien seriously
or to brush off lightly.
Do we have a winner here?
I’d like to know the meaning of the Italian idiom, “Il viso e lo specchio del’anima.”
Thanks.
“The face is the mirror of the soul.”
hello D,
I’d like to make some comment to italian idioms.
“in culo alla balena”: maybe it was originated from a sort of game of putting together opposites of the words that together make an idiom. one may ask: what’s the opposite of a wolf? well, say an animal that live in different ambient (water), is different in size and behavior, has something strange that will help to impress and also goes along well when pronouncing it. balena (whale) will do. and what’s another body part where one could go? supposedly a whale’s one should be big enough to accomodate peoples.
the common answer to “in culo alla balena” (like in: “in bocca al lupo” - “crepi”) is “speriamo ce l’abbia pulito”, “let’s hope it is (she keep it) clean”.
about the hairs on the stomach: I’ve always heard and read it as “peli sullo *stomaco*”, never as “peli sulla pancia”.
another idiom that involves stomach or belly is a sicilian one that anyway has spread nationally: “omo de panza” (dialect - not sicilian anyway - for “uomo di pancia”, something like “big bellied man”). in the sicilian meaning is for a man that keep everithing inside him, so a trustworthy one, one that is not going to talk about secrets. sometimes there’s a rhyme: omo de panza omo de sostanza”, “bellied man, full of substance”, where substance may be plain material wealth or generical good attributes.
the pope that reigned for such a short period is not John Paul II, papa Woitila, but John Paul I (first), papa Luciani. He choose his name by joining the names of his illustrious predecessors, John XXIII (papa Roncalli) and Paul VI (papa Montini) whose papacy had very important effects on the Church, as a sort of vote to continue their work.
Good evening, I have an unusual question. My mother and her sister have taught my 5 year old to say “goofer dama soey fraca muchie” I have no idea what the spelling is, nor if it means anything. My mother said HER grandmother told her a neighbor used to say it to her.
Please let me know if this is something my Daughter should, or should not be saying. I do not want her to offend anyone.
Thank you Randall H. Tyler
rtyler7421@comcast.net
Well, just a specification…
the answer i know to “in culo alla balena” (like in: “in bocca al lupo” - “crepi”) is “speriamo che caghi , “let’s hope she’s going to shit”, an ugly solution to be freed…
I didn’t ever hear “speriamo ce l’abbia pulito”, “let’s hope it is (she keep it) clean”, maybe i grew up in bad company :).
Meanwhile i’d like to use “she” as pronoun for a whale (or he if a male?).
Whales are higly self-awareness beings, maybe more than dolphins, and it’s a shame that we keep hunting them…(well i adore Melville’s Moby Dick, is that a contradiction?)
Cuor forte rompe cattiva sorte”-Proverbio Italiano
I would like to know how to say “rain check” in Italian.
Grazie!
A
what is the italian word for “To Putter?”
Significa che attraverso il volto di una persona si vede com’è dentro. Com’è la sua anima. La faccia di una persona è uno specchio in cui si riflette la sua anima. Spero di essermi spiegata.
Oh I think I misunderstood the question, I was answering the 1st comment, but I guess you are looking for italian idioms… here are a few:
acqua cheta rompe ponti - calm water breakes bridges
meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani - it’s better to have and egg today that the promise of a cick tomorrow
a buon intenditor poche parole
pietra che ruzzola non fa muschio - rocks who rolls doesn’t make “muschio”?!
for others with english translation go here: http://italian.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/aa081402a.htm
A friend of mine told me that: “I was not the kind of flour that would be used for making the holy sacrament bread!” Naturally, I took offence to this! Then, he proceeded to tell me that he was just being a good friend! I do not understand this one. To me, it says that you do not possess the fine qualities that we would use to make something even better………..how rude! Totally offensive! Then, he told me that I couldn’t understand the Italian meaning behind it! It was a popular Italian saying! Please help!
I saw a plaque in Rome that read “Un Bacio e il Cibo per il Cuore”,
A couple of favorites:
Chi troppo vuole non l’ottiene- If you want too much you won’t get it.
Mangi la minestra o salt’dalla finestra- Eat the soup or jump out the window; IE my way or the highway.
Renee, your friend was not trying to offend you, it’s a sardonic way of saying that you’re not goody two-shoes, or even that you don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Many Italians have a deep distrust of the church and there are a lot of idioms that express that.
“In Bocca di Lupo” refers to Romulus and Remus who were suckled by the she-wolf when they flew from Greece to Rome. Romulus became the twin for whom Rome was named; therefore to be in the mouth of the wolf means that you are nurtured and taken care of.
My mother use to always say “in casa di bats” I know the spelling is off, but she meant the house of crazy people–I think the correct word is batso?!
One of my favorite that I learned in Italian class in high school:
“Tutti i gusti sono gusti.” To each his own taste.
How do you translate in English “Inzuppare il pane” meaning to insist on a (usually unpleasant) situation to increase one’s advantage
i want translation for italian songs (lyrics)
There is a proverb the beginning of which is “Egli ch ridi
senza causa….” I don’t know the last part. Perhaps you can help. I believe the translation is “He who laughs without cause……… Sincerely, Joseph Gangemi
Far venire latte alle ginocchia….
weird one, literally it means to have milk in your knees… i think it means, makes you scared.
First of all I don’t speak Italian and am not a good speller even in English. My father used to use the expression see Naples and die. This was as close as he came to bad language. I never got it, but I think it is similer to go to hell in English.
Domenic Tarducci
Actually, as far as I know it’s meant to a compliment to Naples: once you’ve seen the city, there is nothing more wonderful in the world left to see. Unfortunately, these days it tends to be used ironically…
“in culo alla balena” “up the bum of the whale” is a rather rude expression not to be used in polite company, but I was always led to believe it was a strictly Theatrical term used in the same way as “Break a leg”… with reply “spero che non caca” “hope it doesn’t poo” being an ironic answer. It has become more common to use it outwith but only between friends.
I’ve always loved “porca la miseria” literally “pork the misery” when you are exasperated or fed up by something. There are other varients on the same theme. For example: “porco dio” only when you are really, really peeved. Heard it only once in public on the metro in Rome as a man with a broken leg, was being trampled on by rush hour passengers. After a few mutterings he just cried out “prorrrrccco DIO, c’ho la gamba rotta, dammi spazio” the whole carriage fell silent.
Here are a few from Abbruzzo
Pane e panello caccia figli’ bello. Pane senza mazza caccia figli’ pazza.
(Bread and a board makes beautiful children. Bread without the switch makes for crazy kids.
Fregatura! Rip-off.
I’m trying to recall a phrase, “… finito” for the end of an impassioned argument or polemic, to indicate that one is now getting off of one’s high horse. Any clues?
Acqua di rosa. I heard three opinions on this phrase.
1. morning dew on a rose indicating purity or freshness.
2. liquid extracted from roses to make perfume.
3. something superficial, not to be takien seriously
or to brush off lightly.
Do we have a winner here?