Soccer Vocab

The world cup is coming, so it's time to beef up your soccer (calcio, in Italian) vocab.

Tifoso/tifosa: This is the word for a serious fan, which in Italy comprises just about everybody. The word originally referred to someone infected with typhoid fever . . . which leads to some curious comparisons between that disease and soccer fans. Tifare is the verb form, meaning to 'root for' or 'be a fan of.'

Forza!: Meaning, literally, 'force,' forza is the word you need to holler at the soccer game (or tv) when you want to cheer your team on.

squadra: Team

partita: match

And of course, I MONDIALI! Perhaps one of the most thrilling events in the minds of many Europeans . . . the world cup!

 

Bye-bye, so long, farewell

While there may not be fifty ways to leave your lover in Italian, there are at least three.

With Berlusconi’s grand exit today we thought it was high time to give a little vocab lesson on the ways to say goodbye.

Addio: A goodbye that is a little more final… If you say this to a friend, they may think you are skipping town, or maybe never speaking to them again. This is the word you would use to say goodbye either permanently or for a very long time. An example is that a bachelor party is called addio al celibato–farewell to bachelorhood.

Arrivederci/arrivederLa: This word means ‘until I see you again.’ Obviously it’s used for briefer separations, and is often used by shopkeepers to say goodbye to their customers (since they’re hoping to see you again very soon). The first is informal, using the pronoun ci, meaning ‘us.’ The second is formal, La being the formal pronoun used for people older than or unknown to you.

Ciao: This famous word is both a greeting and a goodbye. It’s the least formal of all and is mainly restricted to use between peers, friends, and relations.

Italian for beginners: Diminuitives

In order to imply smallness (in a good way) or cuteness in general, Italian adds a variety of endings to nouns. The most common are -ino, and -etto. Here are some examples:

Motorino: Moto is short for motocicletta, motorcycle. Motorino is the diminuitive form and refers to motor scooters of the type which have recently become popular in the United States. They are present in droves in all Italian cities. The traffic is so dense in most areas that scooters are by far the most convenient–and most economic, considering gas prices–way to travel. A license is required to drive them, and anyone over 14 can get a license. They are also extremely dangerous: over 13,000 people died in motorino accidents in the last 10 years.

Telefonino: Coming obviously from the word telefono, a telefonino is a cell phone. Italians have one glued to their hands — the average number of text messages sent per mobile phone per month is between 30 and 40.  In America it's about 7. Huh.

Vocabulary: Andare alle urne

Andare alle urne literally means 'to go to the urns.'  Why, you may wonder, does it now refer to the process of going to the polls and voting?  To find the answer we turn to the acient history of Greece and Italy.  When the fledgeling democracies of places such as Athens had to vote someone into offices, they obviously didn't have computers–or even punchcards.  Instead, giant pottery urns were set up–one for each candidate.  To vote, you dropped a chunk of pottery into the appropriate urn.  Today, the process has the appearance of modernity.  How well it works, however, remains to be seen.

Vocabulary: ‘Punkabestia’

Punkabestia, a combination of the English word punk and the Italian word bestia (meaning "beast"), refers to a broad category of unkempt street-people (generally youngish) who usually own some form of dog. Stereotypically they are fond of hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol, dress in a grunge style, and have dreads, piercings, or tattoos (or all three). On the more cheery side, they often play a varied assortment of instruments and hang around in groups, playing music and hoping for loose change.