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After this necessary preamble, let us look at this week’s word, the Italian for New Year, more closely. For those familiar with the language, its etymology is clear: Capodanno comes from capo d’anno, the literal “head of the (new) year.” …

Pazienza(pah-tsee-ehn-tsah) comes from the Latin patire, to endure, and from the Greek paskein, to feel or endure something. It has the same root of another common Italian word, paziente, which means “to be patient,” but also indicates people suffering from …

Intanto (een-tahn-toh), il nuovo anno è incominciato. This little sentence is perfect to explain how our word of the day works. Let’s see why.  You can translate the sentence above in two different ways, based on the meaning you decide …

You’re in Italy. You’ve just finished to eat an incredible meal with a bunch of friends and it’s time to pay the bill. Needless to say, someone will say the magic words: facciamo alla Romana? I’m sure you’ve heard the …

“Evviva la Torre di Pisa che pende, che pende ma sempre sta su. Evviva la Torre di Pisa che pende, che pende e mai non vien giù:” this was the famous  refrain of a 1950s song by popular crooner Gino …

Sfogliatella (sfoh-lleeah-tehl-lah) sounds as sweet as it taste. The word is the diminutive of sfogliata (a type of cake), which in turn comes from sfoglia, the Italian for puff pastry. Sfoglia means “thin layer,” as the pastry is made with …

Happy Epifania to you all! While the rest of the world says goodbye to the holiday season on the 1st of January, Italy likes to hold on to the festive atmosphere a few days longer, officially bringing the Christmas period …

About 60 million people speak Italian in the Belpaese and an extra 1.5 million do it around the world, including France, Croatia, Switzerland, Slovenia,  as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil and the US, of course.  A brief review of what …

Mozzafiato (moh-tsa-feeah-toh) means “breathtaking,” but it’s a bit more gory. While, in English, something that surprises or emotions you “takes your breath away,” in Italian it cuts it off your lungs. Because that’s what mozzafiato literally means! The verb mozzare, …

We call them coriandoli, the rest of the world calls them “confetti,” but they are the same thing: those little colorful paper disks that cheerfully fill the air and the streets at Carnevale time in Italy, and in every festive …