Comments on: False Friends/Falsi Amici in Italian

By: La Bella Lingua - Guest Post by Dianne Hales, Author of La Bella Lingua | Bleeding Espresso

Tue, 12 May 2009 07:11:47 +0000

[...] Please welcome Dianne Hales, author of the new book La Bella Lingua, which I’ve already told you about when we discussed my favorite False Friends. [...]

By: Dianne Hales

Dianne Hales — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:42:31 +0000

Grazie for the lovely blurb. I am delighted to welcome your many readers to my site and blog, and I hope to get a conversation as lively as this one going with them.

I’ve learned a lot of Italian from slips of the tongue. Once we were on a boat sailing to Sardinia and my husband and I invited the two co-captains to join us for dinner in port. They worried about interfering with a romantic dinner, but I assured them that after so many years of marriage I feared my husband was getting bored. Except I said boring. It made for an interesting three days at sea!

A presto!

Hah, I definitely tend to remember the lessons learned by mistakes better

By: Madeline

Madeline — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:24:45 +0000

another one: concorrente which means competitor and not "concurrent". I thought about "mito" - maybe it does mean "myth" but is used colloquially in a different way? Just doesn't happen very often in my Italian conversations that the topic of myths comes up...:o) Madeline’s last blog post..Attention to Detail Yeah, I've actually never heard "mito" used as literally "myth," but that is apparently the word. As you wrote, I usually hear it like "E' un mito!" like "He's awesome!"

By: Madeline

Madeline — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:54:04 +0000

great list!

I’d add: “mito” which definitely resembles the English “myth” but actually is used to describe something or usually someone incredible, amazing. Like “Michael Phelps e’ un mito!” I hadn’t thought about this until recently when I was reading a website about Italian wine, where they said “This Great New Italian Wine is a Myth!!” And I realized they wanted to communicate “mito” but not “myth”. )

I’ve made many a blooper with idioms, too! When I first moved to Italy I kept saying “non posso aspettare…” thinking I was expressing my excitement because I just couldn’t wait, as in “Yes, I want to visit Bologna! I can’t wait!”. Later I learned it was “non vedo l’ora” – I don’t see the hour! There’s another list for you…. idioms! (and even more confusing, idioms that actually exist in both languages as direct translations but do not mean the same thing at all)

Madeline’s last blog post..Attention to Detail

Idioms are *definitely* hard to grasp sometimes…I love “non vedo l’ora” though…so poetic

By: Italy News: 03.01.09 | Italy Travel Guide

Italy News: 03.01.09 | Italy Travel Guide — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:51:11 +0000

[...] to learn the Italian language, you could do yourself a huge favor by paying close attention to this list of “false friends” – words you think are going to be one thing, because they look like English words, but turn out to [...]

By: Judith in Umbria

Judith in Umbria — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:43:27 +0000

Eccitato did not always mean sexually aroused, nor did bagnata. I stick with old timers so it won't make a difference. They don't know those new meanings. The other night on X Factor the record company exec said fica then slammed her hands over her face. She meant something else. And she's Italian. Guess it happens to everyone. Judith in Umbria’s last blog post..The best of last year Aspetta! Judith watched X Factor?! I'm stunned.

By: Carolina

Carolina — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:47:18 +0000

Great list! I had quite a few lessons learned from these words while living in Rome, but perhaps the best of all was when I was working a local trattoria before my Italian was developed at all! One of my customers ordered “penne ai funghi” but when I sent out the order, I was given the third degree (with perverted smiles) by the kitchen staff! It wasn’t until I got home and looked up the words in my dictionary that I realized my mistake! Needless to say, I found myself another job quickly! Yikes!
I also had a Chinese roommate who always talked about her “stoffa”! and she wasn’t referring to material…
Thanks for sharing! I will pass this list on to my boys who, although they are fairly bilingual, could easily fall into one of these traps!

Hah, I will leave it up to readers to read between your lines Thanks for coming by Carolina

By: Jacques

Jacques — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:56:51 +0000

I checked out “porco” in the Italian dictionaries, and it actually checks out as “maiale” or “suino” (pig or pork) although I know I wouldn’t have the courage to ask for “carne di porco” at the butcher shop or talking to my mother-in-law about what’s for dinner. Maybe it’s more a local thing (northern Italy)? I’ve never heard “porco” outside of it’s more commonly used context of “pervert” (in it’s mildest and most complimentary form, perhaps “male chauvenist pig”). To not speak of obscene combinations with Judas or cows.

I’ve heard porco used here and there when people were talking about farming, raising, and butchering “at home” but not at the butcher shop…then it’s maiale. I see “suino” when there’s a sagra, but that’s about it. And we can’t forget when it’s paired it’s miseria, puttana, or one of my favorite uses, troia. Yikes!

By: The Daily Colander

The Daily Colander — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:25:04 +0000

Oh, I loved this post. I’ve made a couple of bloopers myself with these in the past!

The Daily Colander’s last blog post..Get Ready for “Open That Bottle Night”

Glad you enjoyed but sorry you were a victim

By: saretta

saretta — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:03:20 +0000

False friends can be a nightmare and good for a laugh, too! Not to mention using swear words because you have heard them used by others, don't realise they are naughty and then repeat them in a very inappropriate situation...how many times have I done that?! LOL! saretta’s last blog post..To the Sea *Excellent* point, Saretta!