what is this? Wow, great job. ), I got called a horses KNOCK-you plenty of times (prolly ass or penis? Does anyone know the Gabbagul term for behind? I was raised on the west side of Buffalo, NY. She was nabolitan(again spelled out how it sounded) not neopolitan. So cool; a little jewel of a resource for Little Italys Spanglish. For this reason, they are featured heavily in TV shows with Italian characters. a (insert childs name hear) goo abanza aginarey, rey, rey! And, my mother used to say, fangool thea-de-mommeda. The very well known baccaous illustratesindicating back house or out house.not any Continental Italian root to that.purely a creative American Italian expression born of necessity. As you'll see in The Sopranos, society in Italy is very social and family-oriented. Most of this is Napolitano or Siciliano dialect, and would most certainly be understood in the south. The meaning of this phrase as I understood it growing up was bold or brazen or I thought my family was the only ones that called them pizza fritt!!!!! Sorry about that goof. The biggest diffrerence I see is that the people here add an ah sound at the end of the words. This is a fun and engaging way to pick up the natural use of Italian slang phrases and use this language authentically in the appropriate context. It would come out, vaa faa cuuulo!!! The same reason I cant follow Portugese. Especially, when they didnt want us to know what they were talking about. I believe the dictionary is meant to give all possible spellings, whether correct or incorrect, that were commonly used, especially since many words were made-up or combined English and Italian. During family gatherings we lifted our glasses to toast the occasion while everyone shouted []. Marva = a plant used for a tea that cured stomach aches A lot of informal language in Italian is used in The Sopranos. Immersing yourself in these shows will allow you to absorb the language, and slang, in a natural way. How do Italians express frustration? The result is a colourful blend of Italian dialect, English, and local vernacular. Anyone know what that means? Note that this phrase is not widely used, and it is more common to say avere lalitosi. E i calzi ce cacave. There are two words I cant seem to find anywhere in the depths of the mighty internet. It is not in urban dictionary and Italian-American dictionary. this dictionary is very interesting: it shows how lively a language can be and its amazing how people can transform it! Ive heard that belief before, but I think a lot of ethnicities believe it. After a little research in Garzantis Italian Thesarus and commensurate with Marks explanation of o sometimes becoming u and t becoming d south of Rome I believe that in spusada we are likely dealing with a variant of the Italian spossato indicating a now weak or spent person.lacking in vigor..In the context I have heard what sounds something like that used that would be about right.all worn out might be another way to state the case in American English. Thanks for compiling these phrases to preserve our Italian-American cultural heritage. So awesome when people get down to brass tacks and get this on the Internet. And if you want to make sure youre using these Italian slang words appropriately, practice speaking with a native or a private Italian tutor. My mom used to call my boyfriend scualiabeep. Hi Davide It is the It makes me so homesick to read them now- my father is gone and I live on the West Coast. Zeppoli were (and still are) a lighter dough dropped and deep fried in a pot of hot oil and only on Christmas Eve. Used in anger, it translated, Death to your family! This is one Italian slang phrase that will certainly come in handy. . Bear in mind also that ch is pronounced like "k", while the sounds ci and ce are said like "chi" and "che" respectively. ", Another great one is che schifo!, which means "how disgusting! The word is made up of capo, meaning "head" and collo, meaning "neck", as the cut runs down the neck from the head of the pig. I grew up hearing this all the time. Ashpeta comes from aspettare which among other things also means wait or expect. This slang word is basically the Italian version of Oh my God! or Holy Cow! Its used to express a wide range of emotions, from shock to surprise, to disbelief. 1. Really nice job! (LogOut/ It was developed andspoken in tightly-knit Italian communities and neighborhoods. My mothers favorites were, Ti Potza schiatta, Potza yetta u sangue. So Southern Italian you mentoned yachetone is modern Italian chiachierione (pronounced something like kyakyerone, meaning chatterbox.. Her mother had red hair and brown eyes. !, P.S. Musutu mean bigga mouth.. 12. My family was from northern NJ in the Fort Lee area and i remember my grandmother and mother saying faccia dos too. ), If I asked where we are going and she was pissed, shed say Buzzle la GAHNT. Which makes sense, sending something irritating in to the mix. Hey a great fun to read. He went away. Jamaica, Queens because you got it 152% right!! Never knew what that meant. Its usually used in the context of calling someone an idiot or something similar and was in common usage in Northern New Jersey in the 1970s-1990s (probably still is, but I dont live there anymore so I couldnt really say. ) it sounds phonetically like, Zutagil or sootagil. Tony uses this is one episode, when hes watching a Mickey Rooney movie. It all made for a very rich gravy. It was a little vinegary, but delicious! (Pardon my spelling Im doing this phonetically). Your site is extremely helpful. My grandmothers family came from Calabria and my grandfathers family came from Naples. -Janet. By the way, thank you for your pronunciation of them as well. I do appreciate it thank you so very much! (la sorella!/tua sorella ( una putana)!) mind your own fing business! Thank you so much for this. Even if it had more vowels and syllables than folks in like Idaho would assume possible , Omg, its been forever since Ive heard anyone use gravy in that context. shame on you! usually shouted as she waved a wooden spoon at us. My godfather in South Philadelphia used to say it. This is just one example of the dozens of. feminine noun (Latin America) trabajo) cooperative work voluntary communal labour (esp Brit) voluntary communal labor (US) What is the Italian slang word for balls? Just laugh it off and keep the conversation going. & we still have relatives there. Thank you for these wonderful memories, some of which I still use today. Favorite word as a kid growing up, my old man would say LA-SOO-YEE, telling my mom to leave him alone! My barber is named Carmine and upon entering his shop many customers (those of Italian origin and otherwise, so well established it is as an Italian-Americanism) hail him as Camma-nooch (good little Carmine perhaps) rather than Carmine. Id like to talk. I have enjoyed all of them, and I refer to Bonners Sicilian Grammar book often. personalized lessons. They use a phrase Mannagia get tu zong as I remember it. English Italian dictionary with thousands of words and phrases. This is a delicious cold cut of pork neck traditional in Italy. Somehow in any case, rightly or wrongly, it became my own belief that this was not a expression usually used in polite speech. Mary, the Biblical Mother of Jesus, called the Madonna. Whenever any says Madone, they are invoking the name of Jesus mother. Chickery chick, chala chala, checkalaromi in the bananica, pollicowolica cant you see, chickerchick is me I supplied the punctuation and excuse my phonics. Also, a cousin married a non-Italian and he was forever greeted as Hey, Mangia-cake!. Im agonizing over this! words are commonly used to explain many different types of situations in everyday life. . Each word has a history and there is no reason why a word in 2017 should have a counterpart in two dialects, especially if those words evolved from a different source. American Italian is an Italian-American pidgin language developed in the early 20th century by Italian immigrants settling in American cities and metropolitan areas, especially in New York and New Jersey. Perhaps what you're missing is Italian slang. Hi Ralph, When this slang was brought overseas to the U.S, it began to mean "asshole". It is a language that should not be forgotten. Mostly Italian, Irish, Yiddish, and Spanish. The more you use them, the more comfortable youll get with them. Some of my grandmothers favorite phrases I am guessing at the spellings (her people came from Venice, but be different and dont be hatin just cause we come from the north-lol): Colo roto sczifoso comparable to son-of-a-bitch, literally dirty, stinking, broken, smelly ass.. Grazie. But over time, its been softened a bit into Bafangool, which means something like Get out of here! or Youre kidding me! For example, Bafangool, I cant believe you ate that whole pizza by yourself!. Remember that [t] in official Italian is often replaced by the sound [d]. Yes, I know what that means, lol. I was told it was a standard Italian greeting; my aunt went so far as to have her license plate changed to read Y-E-O! You know bella shaquat? That is an easy one- the root word is aspettarethe Italian verb to wait. Ok, got it! Thanks. It is not a stretch for someone with limited reading ability to hear Basa Nicol from the intended utterance basilico especially when there is universal familiarity with San Nicola (good old St Nick) and Basare (which is a variation of official Italian baciare (to kiss). Im telling you because if you ever come to Italy and say that, it is really really unpolite , Also, to the writer of the post, cornuto is not the unfaithful husband but the husband whose wife is unfaithful . Anybody ever hear that word, maybe know the dialect, Im intrigued. are frequently replaced by [b] [d] and [g] in dialect. What is your name? I was born in Argentina to Neapolitan parents , the same phenomenon happen there with the Spanish language , the Italian influence created a new idiom called LUNFARDO, What about moo-nates? Although often unlettered yet still as a people how truly civilized by any fair measure they equally as often really were. Quanto costa? What a fantastic, colorful and memorable childhood I had! Funny thing: I am from Pittsburgh, PA and understood and remember the vast majority of these words and phrases being used (though some of the consonant sounds are a bit harder i.e. This was used for a meal that was just thrown together by a medigan. Gumba Italian was the lingua Franca irrigardlass of national origen. My mother wanted her children to be American first, so she would ask her brothers and sisters to please only speak English around the children. Mopiiiiiin-dish towel My grandmother (who will be 104 in October! How was beata pronounced like be ata or as in English to beat? 30 Italian Slang Words and Phrases to Make You Sound More - FluentU Goocutz or googats lterally meaning small cucumber also moron. One thing I didnt see (but hear all the time, especially from older women, like my mother-in-law) is Oo-di! Its used in a moment of panic, like when the mopeen (also mopeena, ie dishtowel) catches on fire because youve been waving it around the gas stove as you talk, while youre cooking. Thisdictionarywill be updated, as it is an ongoing process. [aa-DOO-zee-PAACH]/[aa-DOO-zee-PAATS], afanabola!/vafanabola!/a fa napule! Some are fried with a piece of salt cod (baccala) inside, sort of a dumpling and served in place of bread at the traditional meatless meal of the pre-Vatican II Christmas Vigil. These were used primarily amongst friends to insult each other. If anyone is interested, I cant tell you how much I LOVE these! Pythagoras was from Syracuse, for example. This is another Italo-American slang word that you might have heard in movies such as Goodfellas and Martin Scorsese's Casino and which also came into popular use after being featured on The Sopranos. Anyone know how to spell the Italian word spoken before a dead persons name? They are partly of Catalan origin and in Spain I.e. If you want to express surprise at how someone is talking or acting, you might say fuori come un balcone . What is a antonym for menagerie? This was a word my family (Newark) used for a mess, or when something was in pieces. Other favorites: Oofah!, Meenchia!, Strunz. What does Carmelo mean in Italian? Couldnt find it in your glossary which by the way is quite extensive and brings back memories of my yoot, to quote Joe Pesci in My cousin, Vinny! Finally, come il cacio sui maccheroni is such a hilariously Italian saying that it's hard to believe it is real. Maria sounds like they were giving you a good wish to live for a hundred years which is what per cent anni means in Italian. Great job. You might use this expression when you cant decide what to order at a restaurantthe lasagna or the risotto? My grandmother came here at age 13 in 1887 from a small town not far from Potenza. So, lets say someone cut loose a really gross fart. ah-speth (wait !) With a few expressions under your belt, be they slang, idioms or dialect, you can quickly sound less like a textbook and more like an Italian. My grandmothers were from Sicily and Calabria. [seh-SEHN-taa-FAA-may], sfacimm bad person (sfacimma) [SVAH-CHEEM] [svaa-CHEEM], sfogliadell italian pastry (sfogliatella) [SHVOHL-ya-dell], sciaquadell whore (sciacquata) [shock-wa-DELL], scumbari disheveled (scumbari) [shkoom-baa-REE], sigilian Sicilian (siciliano) [sih-jeel-YAAN], spasciad/scasciad not talking (to someone) (spacciato/spasciau) [spaa-SHAAD], spustad/spostat spaced out(spostato) [spoo-STAAD], stanna mabaych son of a b- (mispronounced son of a b-) [STAA-naa-maam-BAYCH], statagitt!/stagitt!/staizitt!/staizii! My relatives always got a good laugh when I repeated words my own parents used to say in southern Ontario words that never caught on in southern Italy. Bungaline = Clorox bleach In this post, we will break down some common and useful Italian colloquialisms and explore how watching TV and movies can be a great way to develop your natural language skills. And, in everyday life, for example, it was especially enlightening for us to discover that a scula pasta is a collander and a cupino is a ladle! NYC and northern NJ do the same with mixing slang from various countries. dissapita> sapit(a) > sabida > sabid. My mother was 100% Sicilian and she used many of these words. . She was napolitano. This word is a derivative of the Italian phrase Va fa in culo, which is a pretty vulgar way of telling someone to go away. ; Note: Popularized in the 1970s by The Godfather character Santino Corleone, biangolin bleach (bianco lino) [byaan-GO-leen], bicciuridu my little boy/my little baby (piccolo bambino) [BEECH-oo-REE-doo], bisgott cookie (biscotti) [beesh-GAWT], boombots nickname for an idiot (u pazzo); Note: As in Vinnie Boombots [boom-BAATS], boxugeddu box (box per oggetti) [baax-oo-JED-oo], braggiol meat and sauce/male anatomy (bracciole) [BRAAJH-oel], brosciutt/prosciutt italian ham (prosciutto) [BRAAJH-oot]/[PRAAJH-oot], buttagots/butta gazz annoying idiot (buttana u cazzo) [boo-taa-GAATS], buttann/puttann b_tch/whore (putanna); Note: more mild than sciaquadell [boo-TAAN], calabres Calabrian (calabrese); Note: can refer to people, objects, customs, etc. Now, we will look at a handful of Italian slang phrases and words specific to Italian Americans and made famous by The Sopranos. did anyone ever hear alle murte tue? I am 2nd generation Italian born in America. You'd probably prefer to sound more like Vito Spatafor than Michael Scott! I put together several videos of my family explaining the meaning of various Italian-American slang words (all my Grandparents born in Sicily and now families mainly based in NY/NJ area), and it is good to see some cross-referencing here! doo-ya-vach (two-faced person) phonetically in Neapolitan..ch si desh ?in English.what does you have to say for yourself? Through one-on-one instruction, you will learn all the slang words you need to know to sound like a native in no time. Especially the food, calamad, managot, etc. As I have always understood it, the phrase is meant as a description of a persons status, and does not have anything to do with wishing anybody to starve himself to death. Naples dialect. Very interesting page. But I said it in front of my mother in law once and she laughed so hard she couldnt even tell me what it really meant. Thank you! This is a wonderful forum, thank you. I keep hearing what sounds like pichadu on the Sopranosmolto grazi! Turns out all of these words were Brooklyn-ized. many thanks. (hai capito) [eye-kaa-PEED], how ya doin? My sister and I found it hilarious. CHECK OUT YOU TUBE FOR TOP 40 HITS OF 1945 BY SAMMY KAYEWORDS AND MUSIC.HAVE FUN SINGING IT WITH YOUR KIDS ETC.CIAO ANGELO STREET BRAT FROM THE BRONX NOW IS BOSTON. A living language is one that constantly changes to reflect its new environment. Putting this together in one succinct place was very fun, and I hope it is helpful. We grew up in Spokane and I was was around no one else that used them. Now I am laughing over the memories of Im writing a paper for a linguistic anthropology class about my familys linguistic features and the lexicon on this page is helping me tremendously! Also, so many people think the language their ancestors and relatives spoke was a dialect or an inferior version of standard Italian. I believe that /Y-E-O/, as you said they pronounced, wasnt the italians trying to pronounce hoe are you. Never anything like a penal colony. (WAAR-daa-laa-CHOON-kaa], zoot/zutt down/downstairs (sotto) [zoot], zutt u basciament down to the basement (sotto u basement) [zoot-oo-baa-shaa-MENT], ____________________________________________________________________________________________________. For example, Alora, lets go get some pizza! or Alora, what are we doing tonight? Youll often hear Italian Americans start sentences with Alora as a way to gather their thoughts and steer the conversation in a certain direction. [maa-ROAWN-aa-MEE-uh], menzamenz half and half (mezza mezza) [mehnz-AA-mehnz], mezzamort half-dead (mezzo morto) [METZA-moart], mortadell Italian sausage/loser (mortadella) [moart-aa-DELL], mortadafam really hungy/starving (morta da fame) [moart-aa-daa-faam], muccatori tissue (fazzoletto) [moo-kaa-TOE-ree], musciad mushy (musciata/ammosciato) [moo-SHYAAD], moosh-miauw very mushy (musciata miau) [moosh-meow], muzzarell/muzzadell Italian cheese (mozzarella) [mootz-aa-DELL], medigan non-Italian american/Italian who has lost his roots (americano) [meh-dee-GAAN], napoleedan/napuletan Neapolitan (napolitano) [naa-paa-lee-DAAN], numu fai shcumbari! No he is not full blood Italian American 2nd generation like me he is Scotch Irish! American Italian expressions sometimes are not always true to an Italian original- not even to an original dialectical Italian rootsometimes it is in the hearer rather than the words and then it gets repeated to take on a new life of its own. Wheres zizi today.i always thought growing up that zizi Margie was her name. And if you were being a little too demanding you were dubbedpaduna de buccahausboss of the buck (out) house. But, I do enjoy learning more and more about Italian people and their languages and traditions. (LogOut/ May add any seasoning you wish. Im sad that that older generation is dying off, but some of these phrases will never die. By extension calling someone a morto di fame also has the connotation of someone who is starving to death because he is unable or unwilling to find meaningful employment, perhaps a loser. Interestingly, my husband, Russian Jew, grew up with the same treat, and it was called MandelbrotAlmond Bread. And often very comical. I cant believe it! Reminds me of growing up in Italian house hold where are grandparents immigrated from southern Italy, Town called San Sossio in region Avelino. Y O! and it cracks me up every time. Napiltons (Neopolitans from Naples) are criticized even in Italy for dropping all the endings of words. My father and his comrades would migrate between English, Abruzzese and this fascinating dictionary listed above. It can be used to show agreement, confusion, or excitement. Hello Karen, Trina You wrote a long time ago, hope you see this. 1st Gen Italian from Providence, RI. Ive never been quite sure of the definition either. Thanks for the site! The two words are different in pronuncation and meaning in both official Italian and in southern Italian dialects. Example Clean your room, its all Brishca brolia. Both of my moms parents were right off of the boat, as they would sayand the words and phrases shown above were exactly how everyone spoke in that town at that time.it brings back fond memories! if you yell to someone morto di fame you are insulting him, more or less telling him is a tramp, a loser, someone who cannot even provide food for himself (morire di fame starve to death). How do you express emotions in Italian? che mangava pane e prune who was eating bread and prunes
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