I love Italian idiomatic expressions - those sayings you just can’t translate directly but which make the Italian language the colorful and charming language it is.
Today’s saying from Italy is actually two sayings, but the two spices involved are inseparable on the dinner table, so why split them up here? I’m talking, of course, about salt and pepper.
First, the salt-related saying:
Ha molto sale in zucca.
This would literally translate to “He (or she) has a lot of salt in his (or her) pumpkin.” Yes, salt in the pumpkin. When I first saw that I assumed “zucca” would be standing in for “brain” (as “gourd” does for us) and that it would be a bad thing, like that he/she wasn’t very smart. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The saying above actually means “He (or she) has a lot of good sense.”
Now for pepper:
È tutto pepe!
Literally, that means “He (or she) is all pepper.” This one’s a bit easier to get the gist of, seeing as how pepper has a kick the world over - the saying means “He (or she) is full of life.”
I’ll keep sharing Italian idiomatic expressions with you periodically; and if you’ve got a favorite saying, let me know!
If you like this one, check out some of the other Italian idiomatic expressions I’ve posted about, too.
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Jessica, I am a rabid soccer Roma fan (one of the 2 soccer teams in the capital) and I just want to say that I have seen the recent match between Roma and Madrid.
It was a tremendous spectacle, with both teams playing a tense, emotional match and with the enthusiasm of the huge audience.
The Bernabeu stadium in Madrid is as large as San
Siro in Milan, and there vere many Italians in the crowd (Needless to say, very boisterous).
Of course Roma won, otherwise I wouldn’t have the heart of writing this note.
I wanted to share this with you, because as a person interested in Italy, you know that it is a soccer-crazy country.
Regards, Domenico
Thanks for the comment, Domenico - what a great experience it must have been for you to see your team win! I went to see Milan play at San Siro (not the Arsenal game, though), and I hope to go back - it is much more fun to see the games in person. You can read a post I wrote about watching that game next week!
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