InBoccaAlLupo

I was in the market and wanted a bunch of grapes but couldn't think of the Italian word for bunch so actually said "buncho"!!
Then the other day I had to speak to a very patient woman in a service centre about my washing machine making a weird sound. When I tried to describe the sound it was making I wanted to say 'a metallic sound' in Italian, but I couldn't think of the word for metallic so just said "metallica"!! The woman must have thought she had some mad english woman on the other end of the phone saying she can hear Metallica playing in her washing machine! ....although wouldn't that be novel if washing machines played music.

Maybe one day I'll get the hang of this language.

sunnyjt

Ha! That is SO funny!

I completely understand. Since moving here, I have become the most antimated sound-machine ever. If I can't explain something, I find myself doing some bizarre rendition of charades with sound effects!

Sam C

Yes, but its also amazing how many times you can stick an "O" or an "i" on the end of a fairly complex english word and hit the Italian equivalent bulls eye !

For instance i was in conversation and i was trying to explain different dialects, and hey presto i blathered out Accento =Accent.......obviously i was immediatly understood so its always worth a try is good old "italish !"

duffer

Does anyone scream out 'Ieeeee, f#@*ing m#rda!'

instead of 'Ouch!'?

Or is it just me?

pugliese

Or what else you can do if you can't think of the word in Italian is just blatantly say it in English. Believe me they won't dare ask what you mean for fear of showing themselves up!l They would have to admit they didn't know it was chic to say that word in English nowadays or confess to their limited knowledge of English. It reminds me of my first "incontro famiglia" when my 6 year old son's teacher told me he was a "monello". I just smiled and went home and looked it up in the dictionary! He's 25 now without permanent damage.

indiebird

I do it all the time. The kids tell me that I occasionally pop a 'so' into my sentences in Italian without even thinking about it..... I was sure I said 'allora' but who knows!! We still say 'Andbago' from when we first moved and I was trying to speak Italian all the time, even in the house..... that phase lasted about two weeks! We also say 'Spugna' for a spoon.....which is obviously weird and we 'ci cuddliamo!' I think it's been great for my kids to speak two languages as they are so creative even if they don't always mean to be.

Lorna at Vicenza

cuddliamo - that's cute.
Reminds me of Alex when he mixed up hug and cuddle and asked me for some huggles.

bricwood

I have a worse problem, I go in shops and people speak to me in English before I open my mouth, I must look very foreign, I had neutral clothes on yesterday a nice black cashmere overcoat nice trousers I bought in Vicenza, all I said was tre as I bought three bags of compost and he talked to me in English, when this first happened in a shop I thought its my name, but Italian bank card has no name on it, I wonder if my details come up on screen?

pugliese

The shopkeeper probably knows more about you than you do!

Margaret M

Same happens to me.

Cashmere Kate

The same often happens to my husband when he's in a touristy place. And he's Italian!

Although we speak Italian together, we always say certain words in English, like cuddle and pudding!

pugliese

on second thoughts Bricwood, maybe it was the clothes. I can't immagine many Italians going to buy compost in nice trousers and a black cashmere coat, but good on you for shopping in style

HADENOUGHPIZZA

move to Parma - you'll fit right in

bricwood

I wear a Kashmir overcoat as its the only warm thing I have to go out in, most people wear parkas here, I am not sinking to looking like a reject from Oasis

ononno

Wow, I didn't know I looked like a reject from Oasis.
What is 'Oasis' anyway? I mean apart from being a place with water in a desert.
ciao for now.
'o nonno