If you stay in Italy for some time, and you make friends with some Italians, you’ll soon discover that Italians use many slang words in everyday life.
Staying in Italy for a while and making friends with some Italians is surely the best way for you to learn some Italian slang words and also to be able to use them correctly.
However, if you cannot spend a month or two in Italy, don’t worry, because in this article you’re going to learn five Italian slang words.
LIMONARE
Imagine you’re in Italy, you go to a disco and meet an Italian girl. It’s love at first sight.
So, you decide to get to know her better and by the end of the night you find yourself kissing her repeatedly. Congratulations! In Italian slang you’ve just limonato.
So, limonare means to kiss someone.
A typical Italian sentence you can hear is:
Ex:
Ho limonato tutta la notte
We kissed all night
ROMPERE I MARONI
Now, imagine you’re in Italy and a peddler starts to follow you because he wants to sell you a cap. You tell him you’re not interested, but he keeps trying to persuade you to buy that cap.
You start to be a little bit annoyed but, again, you explain him calmly that you don’t need a cap. However, the peddler doesn’t give in and keeps following you trying to sell you that damn cap. Now, in informal Italian this peddler sta rompendo i maroni.
So, rompere i maroni means to bother someone or to piss someone off.
Ex:
Oggi un venditore ambulante mi ha rotto i maroni per mezz’ora perché voleva vendermi un cappellino
Today a peddler pissed me off for half an hour because he wanted to sell me a cap
TIRARE UN PACCO
Do you remember that Italian girl you met at the disco? Well you’ve a date with her tonight at 10pm in front of a very famous Italian pub.
You shower, dress yourself and arrive at the pub at 9.30pm. Time passes by, 10.00, 10.15, 10.30, you wait and wait until you understand that she won’t come. Well, in informal Italian this girl ti ha tirato un pacco.
So, tirare un pacco means not to show up to a date.
Ex:
Ieri sera Giulia mi ha tirato un pacco
Yesterday night Giulia didn’t show up to our date
GNOCCO/A
If you’ve been in Italy at least once in your life you might recognize the word gnocco. It’s a typical Italian dish. However, in informal Italian this word acquires a whole new meaning.
You’ve planned an organized trip to Rome. The day of the departure has come, you go to the airport, you get on the flight and you land safely in Rome.
You take a taxi and get to your hotel. Four hours later you go to the reception to meet all the other travelers who booked the same organized trip and your tourist guide.
As soon as the guide enters the hotel, you notice how beautiful she is. In informal Italian she’s a gnocca.
So, gnocco means a very beautiful boy or man and gnocca a very beautiful girl or woman.
Ex:
La nostra guida turistica era una gnocca da paura
Our tourist guide was really beautiful
ANDARE A QUEL PAESE
Finally, do you remember that annoying peddler? Try and guess how the story ended.
He was such annoying that finally you told him “ma vai a quell paese!”.
So, andare a quel paese means to tell someone to go to hell.
Ex:
Quel venditore ambulante mi ha rotto talmente i maroni che alla fine gli ho detto: “ma va a quel paese!”
That peddler pissed me off so much that finally I told him “go to hell!”
Did you already know these five Italian slang words?
Credits
Original image by FruitnMore
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