We use a ton of Italian words in English. More than many might think. Just walk into a Starbucks, and you will probably walk out with something called a ‘LATTE‘ (Be careful asking for it in Italy, since all you will get is milk), and if it was a large, you will have asked for ‘VENTI‘, and you may have a bag with some ‘PANINI‘ as well.
How many time have you said ‘CIAO‘, even though you may have thought it was spelled CHOW?
At the OPERA, might you you yell BRAVO? OK, all pretty obvious, but the list is actually almost endless! Magnifico, crescendo, alto, bello/bella, etc.
But how about Italian use of English? Actually, there have been English words used commonly in Italian for ages, but recently it has really picked up, to the point that some call it ANGLITALIANO. The Italian answer to Spanglish or Chinglish. There is even a group dedicated on erase it from use, most appropriately called The Dante Alighieri Society.
How many English words exist in Anglitaliano? Who knows? But I listed those I could think of, and did about 5 minutes of googlage to see what I could put together. Have a look. The words in GREEN are English words that would be commonly understood by many Italians that don’t think they speak a word of English!
OKAY, this WEEKEND I used my COMPUTER and MODEM to go ONLINE to TEST my WEBCAM and EMAIL on the INTERNET with my new ROUTER. The SERVER SOFTWARE asked for a PASSWORD, then made me DOWNLOAD a FILE. Perhaps I lack the KNOW-HOW.
Later, I listened to an ALBUM with MUSIC by a BOY BAND, then a CD with BLUES, HIP HOP, GRIND, CORE, some POP STAR, JAZZ and a HIT by a ROCK BAND, but there was a BLACK OUT. WOW!
So I took off my BLUE JEANS and wore a SMOKING. I looked COOL, so went to a SINGLES BAR in a HOTEL that was full of SEXY women and had a COCKTAIL with the MANAGER who called me MISTER. She was BEAUTIFUL, with great MAKEUP and an EXTRA-LARGE T-SHIRT. She was truly a BEAUTY with a great NEW LOOK. I saw my EX with her BOYFRIEND who clearly found a BABYSITTER that night.. They deserve their PRIVACY, so I said BYE BYE and went to a PARTY. Sadly, everyone was a SNOB. I began to feel the STRESS. I had a DRINK, then left for a CLUB to see a BAND I am a FAN of that plays DARK music. The PERFORMANCE was SOLD OUT.. every TICKET!
Fortunately, I had a VOUCHER, so the STAFF let me in. OH YEAH! After the SHOW, there was a SUPER DEEJAY that had clearly been DOPING, and is probably on WELFARE.
Later I was hungry, so I got on my SCOOTER and went to a PUB, but I couldn’t decide between a HOT DOG, SANDWICH or a HAMBURGER, so ended up having a SNACK of CRACKERSwhile watching some SPORT on the TV, followed by a TALK SHOW, a FILM, and a REALITY SHOW.
The following day, I went to the gym to do some SPINNING, JOGGING (or FOOTING) and BODY BUILDING before playing some TENNIS. Later, I took a car with lots of SEX APPEAL and a big STICKER for a TEST DRIVE, but it broke down at the STOP, and smelled of GAS. Maybe it was all the SMOG? So I had to take it to the GARAGE. Finally, after a little SHOPPING, I had a PICNIC for lunch with my BUSINESS PARTNER who shared some GOSSIP and NEWS about a friend with a HANDICAP that became a KILLER by giving someone’s PACEMAKER a SHOCK. I thought about it and simply replied: NO COMMENT. It’s not a SCOOP, and has nothing to do with our PARTNERSHIP. All I wanted was a BRIEFING and possible BRAINSTORMING about a new LOCATION for our BOOK SHOP, as well as our BUDGET and new SLOGAN. You know, a MARKETING MEETING.
That night I went to a BED AND BREAKFAST that was really nothing more than a LOFT with a BIG OPEN SPACE, instead of a RESORT. After all, that is the latest TREND. I read a FICTION, and went to sleep. GOOD NIGHT!
So how many “Anglitaliano” words can be drummed up in a single blog post? Who knows? Maybe this one is the LEADER and breaks a RECORD?
Although I’ve heard some of these used, I haven’t heard all of them used. There are certainly a lot of Italian equivalents, like download is scaricare, weekend is ‘la fine-settimana’, online is ‘in linea’. Even if there are a lot of English words in Italian, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to understand what someone is saying. (Don’t forget to take dialects into account. That will just throw you off even more.) Inspite of knowing Italian well, I can still get lost in a conversation, no matter how many English words are thrown in there. .-= PassagetoItaly´s last blog ..Italy… Read more »
Rosetta Stone, somewhere in level 5, there is the lesson about farm and industry – the word? Pickup (as in pickup truck.) Apparently, I couldn’t pronounce it “Italian enough” according to their speech processor. When I vented to my Italian friend (I live in Florence) about the “peekUPpa” situation (my complaint: it’s not even an Italian WORD!), she informed me many of our Anglo words have been added to the “Italian dictionary” just as you mentioned. Interesting blog – thank you!
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..Battiato and Blisters =-.
caio a tutti quanti.
i know the website is dedicated to Italian and Italy, but it’s not only an Italian tendency, you can hear all these words mostly in all European languages. English was the pioneer in computer field and all those words were created in English first, non all of them have an Italian analogue. I work sia con italiano sia con inglese and these results and everyday use of engish words are obvious for me because of well…. global village and the expansion of english in business and international relations.
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