Letting some air out.
The subtle yet GREAT difference between “scoraggiato” and “scoreggiato”.
The case of the mysterious blue underwear.
The super stealth detective skills of yours truly, put to the test in the ultimate question: “did my Italian man cheat on me?”
Fuori come un balcone (and other ways to call Italians crazy)
Can we just take a moment to talk about one of my absolute favorite phrases in the Italian language?
“The Trailing Ciao” and other Italian telephone tips.
Speaking on the phone in another language is difficult. Successfully achieving this step represents a whole new plateau in your language skillz (with a z). Here’s some tips on how to artfully conduct a phone conversation in Italian.
Pointing the finger at me: My 5 biggest mistakes as an immigrant expat in Italy.
In an effort to stay on the happy side of life, I’ve decided that I should first point the finger at myself. So, let’s all breathe and take a look at some of the crazy crap we foreigners in Italy try to pull, shall we?
Looking back on 5 years as a foreigner in Italy… with graphs!
Adapting to a new culture can be a tumultuous process. It’s a mistake to not talk about the difficult parts of living in Italy, for fear of ruining the fairy tale image. (For those of you who don’t like to read, I made a graph that sums it up pretty well.)
Italian pronunciation: papà, Papa, e pappa (the father, the Pope and the holy food)
Am I the only nutcase English-speaking expat who has problems with these words? Better question – am I the only nutcase who uses visualization techniques?
Looking back on one year of marriage… to an Italian man.
In my vast one year of experience (but 6 years together, with 5 of them in Italy), I shall try to address and debunk some common myths about marrying an Italiano, with a concerted effort to artfully sidestep the stereotypes and generalizations that sometimes get me in trouble.
Italian marketing mistake #2: ‘Soffass’ toilet paper
The most interesting discoveries can come from lack of reading material while you’re on the toilet.
What do Chef Boyardee and Häagen-Dazs have in common?
am I the only one that is finding these two marketing campaigns hilarious?
Please, please, don’t name your baby something that translates to ‘butt hole’ in English.
How do you tactfully beg this of your fiance’s brother at their mother’s dinner table? This was the task I was charged with one memorable evening two years ago.
From ‘cool’ to ‘c***’ : 50 shades of genitaliano slang.
What Valentine’s Day is complete without an extensive discussion of Italian slang derived from female private parts?
Somehow, between the chocolate covered strawberries and the bottle of passito wine, my husband and I ventured into this graphic subject late last night. It was actually kind of fascinating.
Itanglish: “The fighettoness here is killing me.”
The word ‘fighetto’ has recently become somewhat of a staple in my ever evolving Itanglish vocabulary. Let’s dissect, shall me?
Itanglish: “stop romping my palles”
To “romp one’s palles“ is a fantastic Italian phrase that I have Americanized to the point of sheer embarrassment. In order to get the full effect, remember to use this with a heavy American accent… leaning towards Californian (think ‘surfer dude’). Keep in mind the added ‘s‘ is simply to make it sound plural in…
The bellissimo reputation of Italian automaker Fiat… proven valid.
“F.I.A.T. = Fix it again, Tony,” was my uncle’s response to the story I’m about to tell. I was pretty sure that phrase was born out of some sort of prejudice against Italian-American immigrants back in the day (which would be funny since my uncle was one), so I went to check on it before…
