Showing posts with label parola del giorno. Show all posts

parola del giorno: English edition

l'home-office.

It means just what it says. Just another one of those odd but delightful usages of English words in Italian (other notable examples are stress, stalker, and snob).

[I read it here.]

parola del giorno: sopportare.

sopportare: to bear, to endure

This word is not new to my vocabulary; in fact, I use it quite frequently: "Non lo sopporto!" Once in the studio, one of the architects hung up the phone after speaking with a client: "Insopportabile!" which made me smile. It's a more emphatic (dramatic...) way of expressing annoyance.

But I considered it in a new light reading this verse from Il libro di Mormon:

"E il mondo, a causa della sua iniquità, lo giudicherà esser cosa da nulla; perciò lo flagelleranno, ed egli lo sopporterà; lo percuoteranno ed egli lo sopporterà. Si, gli sputeranno addosso, ed egli lo sopporterà a motivo della sua amorevole bontà e della sua longanimità verso i figlioli degli uomini."  —1 Nefi 19:9 [translation]

I love this verse and how this little word captures our Savior's willingness to submit to the will of His father by making such a sacrifice for us.

parola del giorno: design edition. serie 7.

parola del giorno: impiallaciato. veneered.

Italian design vocabulary + Scandinavian design inspiration, yes please.

(I think the above photo is stunning...such clean lines, so much white, beautiful wood, that pendant light, and the blue chairs!)

This is something that I am extremely grateful for: because I had read design periodicals in Italian, once I got to Italy this past summer to intern in an architectural studio, I had a solid design vocabulary. I knew and could use somewhat obscure words like acciaio, maniglia, and rubinetto (steel, doorknob, and faucet). And this was all because of reading.

I read this article on a favorite Italian design website today and it made me so happy. It made me especially happy because these chairs by Arne Jacobsen were the chairs used throughout the architectural studio where I interned (I also used one in this project!). Like most famous and classic designs, there are copies floating around, but I learned what makes these particularly well-designed and authentic. The No. 7 chairs are made from veneered layers of wood, but in between each layer is a layer of cotton, which makes the chairs flexible. And I remembered that yes, they do have some give.

just a happy thought that brightened my Thursday. photos from AT Casa.

vocabulary

parola del giorno: alluvione. flood.


The other night, I had a dream that was partially in Italian, partially in English. I almost never remember my dreams, so it was particularly thrilling when I woke up still clinging to the details of this one.

My sister and I were in the library and she sat down at a table already occupied by a family. I walked a little farther, but then I heard the little boy say something in Italian (that I so desperately wish I remembered! It rhymed, and he said it twice; it was almost like a line from a children's book, and it was about a car or train, some form of transportation. le parole mi sono scappate!). When I heard the Italian, I wheeled around and took the open seat next to my sister.

This was funny to me in retrospect, because this happens so often in my actual life... whenever I hear someone speaking Italian, I hang onto their every word. So I struck up a conversation with this dream Italian family. As we left the library discussing their visit to the U.S., the dad asked where I was from. After finding out my east coast origins, he asked if my family had been affected by the flooding.

Up until this point, our conversation had been all in Italian. But when he got to the part about flooding, he paused, and said in English, "...flood? Si, flood."

When I woke up, I realized it's because I don't actually know the word for flood. So of course, it would stand to reason that dream/fictional-Italian-speaker wouldn't know it either.

parola del giorno

I've learned a lot of new words since I've been here. But that's a given. These made me laugh and/or are particularly useful.

@ - chiocciola
Chiocciola means "snail" (how appropriate is that!).

squarciagola: at the top of one's voice.
Mostly I just love the fact that there is a single word for this.

tovagliolo: napkin (self-explanatory if you have read this)

stress: stress
There wasn't a word for "stress" in Italian, so they borrowed an English word. Hmm.

tramonto: sunset
I've actually known this word ever since sometime last year I studied this piece of furniture, which is by an Italian designer. But it lately occurred to me the rather obvious etymology: tra for between and monto for mountain, because the sun sets between the mountains.

parola del giorno

My sister frequently tells me that I am being "a wet blanket on the fun fire," so without further ado, this word of the day is for her.

wet blanket: guastafeste.

From guastare: to spoil + festa: party.


(Good to know.)

parola del giorno [di nuovo]

Incontrare per caso: to bump into.

Andando in giro per il campus, ho incontrato per caso la mia sorella.
Translation: Going to campus, I bumped into my sister.

That didn't actually happen today, but sometimes it does and it's always happy. Especially if I've recently dyed my hair and she doesn't recognize me at first.

(wishing you pretty blue skies and lots of sunshine.)

la parola del giorno.

La parola più bruttissima che ho mai sentito: unghie.

This morning I learned the most awful sounding word that I have yet heard in Italian: unghie. (It means nails.) I wanted to know how to say nail polish, which I learned is "lo smalto per unghie" and I can't even bring myself to say this. Unghie. Brut.tis.si.ma.

When I shared this unfortunate discovery with my friend Danielle, she then introduced me to an even worse combination -- "le unghie lunghe," which means long nails. It just makes me squirm.

Lest you think everything is rosy and perfect in the Italian language...just remember the word for nails. Aside from this, however, it is really such a lovely language.

parola del giorno: l'edizione scolastica

I learned how to say "double-spaced" in Italian today. As in, "One page single-spaced or double-spaced?" (You would think that I would already know this, as it's something that is very important in any student's vocabulary repertoire...)

Una riga si, una riga no.

Literally, this means, "a line yes, a line no."

Yet another reason why I love Italian.

la parola del giorno

I learned the most fabulous word today: sbizzarrirsi.

It means to satisfy one's whims or to indulge oneself. I love that this single word combines the nuanced meaning of its English definition. Likewise, I really appreciate the English word 'awkward' because there is no such word in Italian! (There are words for embarrassed, complicated, inconvenient, clumsy, etc. ...a word for each meaning of awkward, but not one that encompasses them all! Who knew.)

What are your favorite foreign words? (Or English ones, too.)
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