Anglitaliano – English Invades Italian

A fun guest post from someone who has noticed a few odd things happening to the ‘Italian’ language.  Over to you Ainsley:

As a Northern 40-something-year-old Englishman, the four years I’ve spent learning Italian haven’t exactly been plain sailing (blame the British school system).

The lowlights have included, on just the third time I met my future mother-in-law, mixing up ho scoperto… (“I discovered”) with ho scopato (I f****d). I meant to say the first, before you ask. And don’t get me started on the time I asked a Forte dei Marmi waitress whether I could leave la mancia (the tip) on the table. But ended up asking about la minchia (a vulgar term for penis) instead.

Yet sometimes – just sometimes – I wonder why I bothered learning the world’s most romantic language when half of Italy seems hell-bent on speaking a bizarre hybrid of Italian and English.  Want more examples?  Well here is a boat load of them for you. Read more

Surreal Legal Writing

Yes, I know it’s odd to say it, but today’s (it was still ‘today’ when I started writing this!) encounter with the advocates was a little bit on the surreal side.

Would you believe that an examination of the language relating to liquidated damages, lept towards kangaroos, enduro and dirt bikes, with a small dose of equity thrown in for good measure?  No, and neither would I, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it happened!

Yes, it was a mite surreal.  I remember asking myself if it really was happening.

The lawyers I’ve been teaching to write and translate are quite a fun bunch, it has to be said. Read more

The Italian Piazza

Every town or city in Italy has a piazza.  Many are masterpieces, whereas some are smaller, less majestic and more intimate.  As a rule though, the larger the Italian town, the larger the piazza will be, and most of Italy’s cities have many more than one single piazza.

As some may know, I come from England which is famous for its market squares.  Alas, however, many of England’s market squares have disappeared.  Fortunately, Italy’s equivalents are still very much in evidence.

This week’s Images of Italy photograph is of one such Italian piazza – the biggest piazza in an Italian city famed for having one of the oldest universities in the world, and appreciated in Italy for its delicious food – Bologna. Read more

Next Page »