Here we are, ready to satisfy our curiosity a bit more! Cutting ropes, smashing eggs, emptying bags… what do you think these mean?

 

Try to use these idioms as much as you can when talking to your Italian friends. In addition to being fun, the explanation of the origins of each idiom gives you some details about many traditional aspects of Italian culture.

 

However, please, do not keep water in your mouth and instead try to speak Italian using these idioms as much as you can. You will definitely sound like an expert speaker!

 

Felice come una Pasqua: Happy like (an) Easter

 

What a better subject than Easter now that this well known event is approaching! The Italian name for Easter, Pasqua, comes from the Greek Pascha. It is a mobile festivity, which means that its date is not fixed. Every year it happens on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

 

Easter is the most important and merriest celebration for Catholics (yes, more important than Christmas!), since it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you add this to the fact that it usually occurs over the beginning of spring, you can easily understand why it has been associated with happiness and joy!

 

Evviva! Evviva! Sono felice come una Pasqua! Il mio colloquio di lavoro è andato molto bene e mi hanno subito assunta!

 

Che barba! (Informal use only): What a beard!

 

This very widely used idiom is what Italians utter when they are bored or annoyed by something. Even though it's preferable to say it in a familiar context, it is a polite alternative to many other equivalent slang expressions. It plays with the fact that it takes a long time for a man to grow his beard!

 

Che barba! Non ne posso più di aspettare quella ritardataria (someone who is often late) di mia sorella! Vado da sola!

 

Essere come il prezzemolo: To be like parsley

 

Alongside basil, rosemary, thyme and black pepper, parsley is very common in Italian recipes. This is the reason why when associated with people, the idiom means that the person in question attends every event, or that he/she is often seen in many different places. When it refers to things in general, it means they are very common and easy to find.

 

Questo attore è proprio come il prezzemolo! Recita in così tante soap opera!

 

Rompere le uova nel paniere: To break the eggs in the basket

 

More eggs in our pictures! To understand the meaning of this idiom, I would like you to think of a humble peasant who has just collected some eggs from the chicken coop (or that has just bought them from a neighbour) and put them in a basket. Before industrial farming, egg production was not scheduled in advance. People could only predict roughly how many eggs chickens would make.

 

Our peasant friend would then be very careful with his eggs. If they had been broken, he would have given up all his plans about what to cook with the eggs and waited for the next day to collect more. Nowadays, if someone “breaks the eggs in your basket,” it means that this person destroyed your plans!

 

Avevo pianificato ogni cosa per la festa a sorpresa per Luca, quando Giovanna mi ha rotto le uova nel paniere spifferandogli tutto!(blabbing everything to him)

 

Tagliare la corda (Informal use only): To cut the rope

 

This is a particularly curious idiom. Historians say that it has two possible different origins. The first one refers to the expression sailors used to announce that their ship was ready to set out and the ropes that connected it to the docks which had to be cut.

 

The second possible origin refers to prisoners or animals in captivity that manage to escape by breaking the rope to which they are tied. If you “cut the rope,” it means you're craftily running away from a difficult or embarrassing situation!

 

I bambini hanno rotto la finestra del vicino mentre giocavano a palla. Prima che qualcuno se ne potesse accorgere, hanno pensato bene di tagliare la corda!

 

Vuotare il sacco (Informal use only): To empty the sack

 

Probably associated with the image of a thief running away with a full sack of stolen goods, this popular expression means to reveal everything we know about a certain embarrassing story, or to admit all your bad deeds.

 

Avanti! Vuota il sacco! Che cosa hai combinato ieri a scuola? Ho ricevuto una telefonata dalla maestra!

Come il cacio sui maccheroni (Informal use only): Like cheese on maccheroni.

 

I’m sure all of you have tried Italian style pasta in an Italian restaurant. I’m also sure that you cannot deny that parmigiano cheese is absolutely lovely on every kind of pasta!! That’s where this popular expression comes from: if two things are like cheese on pasta, it means they match. If something is like cheese on pasta, it’s exactly what you were waiting for.

 

Questa notizia è come il cacio sui maccheroni in questo momento!

 

Non vedere l'ora: To not see the hour.

 

Even though the literal meaning is a bit odd, this expression is so common in everyday language that it is not even perceived as an idiom by Italian speakers. When “I don’t see the hour,” it means that I’m looking forward to something that is about the happen in the near future!

 

Non vedo l’ora che la mia amica Sara arrivi! Sono anni che non ci vediamo e ho così tante cose da raccontarle!

 

Fai ballare l'occhio (Informal use only): To make your eyes dance.

 

Move them fast, from side to side and up and down! Your pupils won’t stop “dancing” until you find what you are looking for!

 

Mamma, non riesco a trovare il mio dizionario di francese! Dov’è?

Fai ballare l’occhio! L’ho visto in camera tua, sono sicura che è ancora lì.

 

Togliere le parole di bocca: To take the words right out of one’s mouth.

 

This curious idiom implies that words simply come out of our mouths in the form of speech bubbles (just like in a comic book) and that anybody could steal those words and make them their own. If you “took the words right out of my mouth,” you’ve just said exactly what I was about to say myself!

 

Stavo proprio per dirlo io, Maria! Mi hai tolto le parole di bocca!

 

Rendere pan per focaccia (Informal use only): To give bread for focaccia.

 

This idiom has a very long tradition, with its first appearance going back to a Roman writer. In case you don’t know what it is, focaccia is a very common variety of bread made with olive oil. To give bread to somebody who gave you focaccia means “to treat a person the same as he/she treated you.” Originally used to describe both revenge and a favour, it is nowadays used mainly to talk about getting even.

 

Le ho reso pan per focaccia! Laura non mi ha invitata alla sua festa e io non l’ho invitata alla mia!

 

Far venire il latte alle ginocchia (Informal use only): To make the milk reach the knees.

 

The origin of this expression comes from milking cows. Usually, the farmer would sit on a stool with a bucket between his legs next to the cow. He would go on milking until the milk level in the bucket reached his knees. It was a very slow process and a good deal of patience was required. Nowadays, this idiom refers to something incredibly boring and tedious that makes you lose your patience.

 

Le lezioni di quel professore mi fanno venire il latte alle ginocchia! Sono noiosissime… e lui parla così lentamente!

 

Mandare all’aria/in fumo: To send something to the air/to the smoke.

 

Long ago, when people decided to get rid of something, it was very common to light a big fire and burn it until nothing was left but ashes. It was as if what we burned vanished into the air with the smoke. Therefore, if you “have sent something to the air or to the smoke,” you have destroyed it. This expression is mainly used when talking about plans, projects, or money.

 

Questo inconveniente ha mandato all’aria tutti i nostri piani.

Tutti quei soldi andati in fumo! Ha fatto proprio un pessimo investimento.

 

Seminare zizzania (Informal use only): To sow zizzania.

 

The key to this idiom is zizzania. So, what is it? Zizzania is a generic name for any sort of invasive plant that spreads very fast and is harmful to wheat plantations. If a farmer sowszizzania in one field, he’s deliberately ruining the harvest. Thus, if you “sow zizzania” you intend to harm somebody, while if you “sow zizzania” among a group of people, you want them to argue.

 

A Claudia piace seminare zizzania tra le persone! Ha sempre qualche fastidioso pettegolezzo da raccontare.

 

In bocca al lupo!: In the mouth of the wolf!

 

This is a way of wishing someone good luck. We usually say this to a person who is about to deal with something difficult or risky (taking an exam, moving abroad, starting a business, etc.). When we tell a friend “to end up in the mouth of the wolf,” we are actually wishing him/her the opposite. We want him to avoid any sort of bad luck.

 

However, the best is yet to come: this idiom also requires a very specific reply! As if it were a very short theatre dialog, the other person must reply by saying: Crepi! This means “it might die!”

 

Domani mattina parto per l’Australia. Ho trovato lavoro a Sydney e starò via un anno.

In bocca al lupo per tutto, allora!

Crepi!!

 

Acqua in bocca! (Informal use only): Water in the mouth!

 

Let’s do an experiment: let’s try to speak with our mouths full of water. Well, we would probably spit out the water immediately! That’s exactly what this idioms means. If you tell somebody “to keep water in his/her mouth,” you’re telling this person to not reveal a secret or to not talk about a particular subject matter.

 

Mi raccomando, acqua in bocca riguardo alla crisi con mio marito. Non voglio che si sappia in giro!

 

A presto!