indiebird

Hello all, can anyone tell me what the phrase 'andata buca!' might mean please. We are in the final throes of Italian homework with my son and this is apparently a phrase used by young people, but we have no idea what it means and could really do with some help. Also any ideas for other young very informal phrases that we can use where it offers us a space to add our own, please??!! We have managed to get through most of the homework between us but this is one of the last bits we're stuck on.

37100

'Andata buca' is when things didn't work out as they should have. 'Tirare pacco' is used when you fail to do somthing you've said you'll do. 'Ci becchiamo' = we'll meet up. 'Essere avanti' = the best etc. 'Sei fuori' = not with it. The others we can think of at the moment couldn't or rather shouldn't be used by kids.

indiebird

Brilliant thanks 37100!! I am beggining to lose the plot re: this flipping homework. We have have had over 50pages of italian homework and it is really. really, really difficult for us. There have been some choice words said in this house I can tell you!!

37100

Only did a couple of pages with one of oh's family and she's just finished 1st grade but that was enough. I'll never forget getting in a right state over 'which family the cow belonged to' with my eldest. Silly thing to get worked up about but I did. Sometimes I'm really jealous of you youngsters because it was one hell of a slog for me. No internet etc. and poker faced locals who couldn't quite grasp that I wasn't being different on purpose!

Lorna at Vicenza

Were the choice words in English or Italian?

Here's another informal one for you ....

Che sfiga! .... means 'what rotten bad luck'.

indiebird

The choice words were definitely in English!! Although, this homework has helped both mine and ds's italian. however all this flipping 'analizzia' is well boring isn't it??! Who really gives a stuff about all these grammar points, especially when you are 9??!! No wonder the italians are all so weird with this load of old rubbish filling their heads!!

richeller

How do you say 'supposed to'
eg. 'I was supposed to come yesterday but....."
Thanks

37100

hi Richelle, In this case it's "sarei dovuto venire ieri, ma...." bye.

richeller

Thanks 37100... I am in Affi, north of Verona, but my boys go to school in Verona. We should catch up some time??

37100

Richelle, I'm Phoebe's neighbour. Had to change username cos of facebook.

richeller

ooohhh. got it. We will pop in when I am next there. We need to do another aperitivo thing.....

Lorna at Vicenza

Anybody else heard or seen the Kinder advert where Anna (or whomever) wants to become a "naturalista".

The first time I heard it, I wan't really concentrating and thought they were saying that Anna wanted to be a nudist type person.

indiebird

No!! Does it really mean someone who is interested in nature??!!

I wanted to ask you all something actually. A verb that I am confused about is: Sembrare... now this has been described to me as 'the sense verb' which totally confused me... and then when I looked at it in my indie-logical way () and thought it must mean 'to resemble'. is this right? My new book describes it as meaning 'to seem like' so I'm a bit confuddled now...

Other question is whether there is a way to say 'that sounds good' and whether it even could work in italian in the same way...

Lorna at Vicenza

Hi Indie - a naturalista - I think is a person qualified in nature studies and has nothing to do with nudity.

As for the verb 'sembrare' ...

Sembrare does mean - resembles / looks like.

Think of your kids and if anyone has ever said 'sembra proprio suo padre' really looks like / resembles his father.

It is also often used in every day phrases to mean "seems like" or "looks like".


Sembra una buon idea ........... seems / sounds like a good idea.

Used also in the past tense ............ sembrava buona ma faceva schifo. It looked /seemed good but was awful.

Some folks in my area would also use it to say things like ....... sembra pioggia ........ looks like rain. In the sense that it's going to rain.

If somebody asked you if you like their new dress - you wouldn't say "si - sembra bello" coz that is like saying "yeah - I suppose it might be alright."

If you say "sembri ......... " to somebody, you're saying , 'you look like ...........'

"Sembri una regina ---------- you look like a queen"

Does that help?

indiebird

That does Lorna!! You also managed to answer both my questions too!! Maybe my brain is making unconcious links with things.... (or maybe it was just a fluke!!)