# Italian common saying -- in english (for fun) **URL:** \ **Category:** Off-topic\ **Created:** [September 25, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724 "2017-09-25T12:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DZ-Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DZ-Jay](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/DZ-Jay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/64 "2017-09-25T21:49:39Z")
Another one: _you are like a cocoanut_ (“estás como coco”). ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/65 "2017-09-25T22:11:58Z")
Hard to crack? ---
**Author:** ![DZ-Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DZ-Jay](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/DZ-Jay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/66 "2017-09-25T22:31:11Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > Hard to crack? Haha! Nope. Would you believe, “healthy”? I have no idea why cocoanuts are considered healthy. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/67 "2017-09-25T22:40:24Z")
Why would you call another person healthy? Healthy for you or in good health/shape? If it´s the latter maybe because coconuts are robust? ---
**Author:** ![DZ-Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DZ-Jay](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/DZ-Jay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/68 "2017-09-25T22:44:25Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > Why would you call another person healthy? Healthy for you or in good health/shape? If it´s the latter maybe because coconuts are robust? Maybe. It is used when talking about sickness also. ---
**Author:** ![ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/zakphoenixmckracken/32/41_2.png) [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/ZakPhoenixMcKracken)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/69 "2017-09-26T03:07:13Z")
> [@DZ-Jay](#): > > have no idea why cocoanuts are considered healthy. 😕 Ahah interesting! We have _you are like a rock_ or _you have an iron health_ to say that somebody is in a good, strong health. ---
**Author:** ![Guga](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/guga/32/14476_2.png) [@Guga](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Guga)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/70 "2017-09-26T04:59:20Z")
BTW, here are the explanations! A person is _like a pear_ (cummenti una pira) when he’s dumb, easily fooled, distracted. No idea why pears should be like that. Something is _thrown together_ (ghettau a pari) when it’s been done rapidly with no regards for quality. Like, when you throw everything you have in the project just to finish it. “Some might say that the ending for TWP is thrown together” 😛 I also love to use it as a German word (zusammengeworfen) with my Sardinian friends in Zurich. To be _at flowers_ (a froris) is used to remark someone for some embarrassing situation, like “you needed hints to solve Part 5 in TWP? You’re really at flowers”. Bonus: the “already” (giai, or the italian già) is a Sardinian way to underline a remark when used at the beginning of the sentence. “Già sei scemo” is stronger than a simple “sei scemo”. To _take someone to the head_ (pigai a conca) is basically “to get on someone’s tits”. Now a question for the Italians: do you also say “prendere alle palle” for “rompere le palle”, or is it just Sarditalian? To be _few exited_ (pagu bessiu) means to be unaware of social norms. Someone who went out too few, basically. “I can’t believe he invited me for dinner at his apartment and then asked me to pay for the pizza” "Yes, he’s _pagu bessiu_" To be a _dead penis_ (minca morta) means to be inept and apathetic. To _throw someone out to the horn’s sound_ (bogai a son’e’corru) means to vigorously expel / repel / push away someone, even figuratively. Like “the new guy at work was so obnoxious that the management threw him out to the horn’s sound”. It usually underlines that the expulsion has been well received by bystanders. To have _bad will_ (gana mala, or the Italian brutta voglia) means to be nauseated. This is widely used also in Sarditalian, meaning that we’re mostly unaware that “brutta voglia” makes no sense for non-Sardinians\*. All sayings in point 9 are used to underline something great, surprising. In order: _ti caghi_ (yep, Italian), _arro’ddu go’_ (short for _arrori du coddidi_), _minch’e’cuaddu_, _cuddu cunnu_ (Sicilians might find this one familiar) or the ever-loving _minca mia a tui_, which we sometimes say in Latin (mentula mea tibi) when we want to feel fancy. Like “you shit yourself, I’m a beta tester for TWP now!” or "the new iPhone costs more than 1000 bucks - horse dick!" Number 10 (di gomma, or di ghisa) are, just like _col cavolo_, used to ironically say no. \*we have another one which is widely used and we don’t know it’s not Italian. “It doesn’t do” (non fa) for “it can’t be done”. “Shall we go to the cinema today? - It doesn’t do, I have an exam tomorrow”. When said to Italians, they usually reply “non fa? cosa non fa?” ---
**Author:** ![Ema](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/ema/32/14101_2.png) [@Ema](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Ema)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/71 "2017-09-26T06:21:42Z")
> [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](#): > > to say that somebody is in a good, strong health. _healthy as a fish_ ---
**Author:** ![seguso](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/seguso/32/1232_2.png) [@seguso](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/seguso)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/72 "2017-09-26T07:48:38Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > btw if I´m getting less than 5 likes for that joke, I´ll mark that down as my most underrated post ever. Let us make a petition to force milanfarnholz to write a script for a game instead of fooling around here. what a waste of talent. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DZ-Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DZ-Jay](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/DZ-Jay)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/73 "2017-09-26T09:08:28Z")
> [@Ema](#): > > > [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](#): > > > > to say that somebody is in a good, strong health. > > _healthy as a fish_ Haha! We have _happy as a worm_ because “lombriz” (worm) rhymes with “feliz” (happy). 😆 ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/74 "2017-09-26T12:27:25Z")
We say “happy as a schnitzel” but I really have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Someone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Someone](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Someone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/75 "2017-09-26T14:35:32Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > We say “happy as a schnitzel” but I really have no idea why. Really? I’ve never said that in my life. 🙂 I just know “er lacht sich einen Ast ab”. (He is laughing a tree branch off/away.) ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/76 "2017-09-26T14:38:08Z")
“Der freut sich wie ein schnitzel” may be a southern thing. ---
**Author:** ![Guga](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/guga/32/14476_2.png) [@Guga](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Guga)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/77 "2017-10-01T11:30:08Z")
Today another Sardinian one popped up into my mind. To _throw a tear_ to someone. It means to wish bad luck. We even have the gesture, you draw a tear from your eye and then throw it, usually in direction of the person / event you want to see failing. Usually said also to blame someone whenever something bad happens, like “it’s my first day of vacation and I got sick, somebody must have thrown a tear to me”. Gettare una lacrima, in Italian. ---
**Author:** ![DZ-Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DZ-Jay](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/DZ-Jay)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/78 "2017-10-01T12:09:54Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > Today another Sardinian one popped up into my mind. > > To _throw a tear_ to someone. It means to wish bad luck. We even have the gesture, you draw a tear from your eye and then throw it, usually in direction of the person / event you want to see failing. Usually said also to blame someone whenever something bad happens, like “it’s my first day of vacation and I got sick, somebody must have thrown a tear to me”. > > Gettare una lacrima, in Italian. Haha, in Spanish we say, “dar mal de ojo,” which translates literally to _give bad of the eye._ It’s like to put a curse on them. We use it in a similar way to yours. When someone has a lot of bad luck, we say he is _salted_ (“salado”). ---
**Author:** ![ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/zakphoenixmckracken/32/41_2.png) [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/ZakPhoenixMcKracken)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/79 "2017-10-01T13:32:57Z")
> [@DZ-Jay](#): > > When someone has a lot of bad luck, we say he is salted (“salado”). We instead use a sexual reference. When somebody has a lot of bad luck, or is pathetic, we say he is a “sfigato”, which translates… _with no pu##y_ ---
**Author:** ![Ema](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/ema/32/14101_2.png) [@Ema](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Ema)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/80 "2017-10-01T20:29:23Z")
> [@DZ-Jay](#): > > Haha, in Spanish we say, “dar mal de ojo,” which translates literally to give bad of the eye. It’s like to put a curse on them. We use it in a similar way to yours. A curse, in italian, is “malocchio”, which means “bad eye”. It derives from the superstition that bad things happen because people look at you with hate or envy. EDIT: > **[Evil eye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_eye)** > > The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glare, usually inspired by envy. The belief in the evil eye among humans has existed since prehistory, and amulets to protect against it have been found from dating to about 5,000 years ago. It is estimated that around 40% of the world's population believes in the evil eye. > It is found in many cultures in the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia, with such cultures often believing that r... ---
**Author:** ![Ema](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/ema/32/14101_2.png) [@Ema](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Ema)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/81 "2017-12-02T09:20:13Z")
> [@The X-Files 2018](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/the-x-files-2018/1825/43): > > New favourite phrase. Since it seems to have had success, I’ll fully explain this. In Italy, a way to depict a fool person is to say he’s a “testicle” (_coglione_). That’s quite a trivial word to say. So, if you’re trying to fool me, you’re somehow trying to make a testicle out of me. So, basically you’re _testicling_ me, or -if you prefer-, _testiclicizing_ (?) me: “mi coglioni, mi stai coglionando” This common saying is used mainly only in Rome urban and suburban area, so it’s very popular its roman dialect form: “me cojoni, me stai a cojonà”. Since in the last years the use of trivial words has become someway more accepted in current language, more and more people use this saying, and its meaning extended. If originally it meant something like “you’re fooling me, it can’t be true” it could now mean “It’ so unbelievable and interesting that it even could appear unbelievable, but, mate I do believe you!” Ok @ZakPhoenixMcKracken, now don’t even try to say that I’m not your best AceAttorney, trying to save your \*_beep_! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PiecesOfKate](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/piecesofkate/32/93_2.png) [@PiecesOfKate](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/PiecesOfKate)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/82 "2017-12-02T09:41:48Z")
I can see how that works. It sounds like the original meaning equates to our English ‘you’re kidding me’, and the testicle analogy is like our ‘that’s a load of bollocks’. It’s nice that us Europeans are all in sync 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Someone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Someone](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Someone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724/83 "2017-12-02T10:20:07Z")
> [@PiecesOfKate](#): > > It’s nice that us Europeans are all in sync 😉 Oh, yes! For example It’s quite interesting to see how French influenced German and vice versa. We Europeans have a lot in common, not only in the language(s). And it’s sad that Britain and a lot of other people are trying to get out of sync… [Previous page](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724.md?page=3) [Next page](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/italian-common-saying-in-english-for-fun/1724.md?page=5)