Here’s a list of all the “Listen & Repeat” Italian words featured on this blog. Now get studyin’ !
Piace
Pronunciation: Pee-ah-chay
Meaning: Like (verb)
Example: I piace to move it, move it!
Coppola
Pronunciation: Cope-o-lah
Meaning: Scally cap (noun)
Example: I’m an Irish/Italian Bostonian, of course I know how to rock a coppola!
Ghianda
Pronunciation: Ghee-ahn-dah
Meaning: Acorn (noun)
Example: You look like a lil’ ghianda with your winter cap on!
Scoiattolo
Pronunciation: Skoy-ah-toe-low
Meaning: Squirrel (noun)
Example: I’m just a scoiattolo, trying to get a nut … so move your butt … to the dance floor!
Stregato
Pronunciation: Stray-gah-toe
Meaning: Haunted (adj)
Example: Uh-oh! Our ball landed on the lawn of that stregato house!
Mutande
Pronunciation: Moo-tahn-deh
Meaning: Underwear (noun)
Example: My favorite blog is obviously “Change of Mutande”!
Orsacchiotto
Pronunciation: Or-sec-key-yo-toe
Meaning: Teddy Bear (noun)
Example: I sleep much better when I’ve got my orsacchiotto with me!
Ciliegie
Pronunciation: Chee-lee-age-ee-eh
Meaning: Cherries (pl. noun)
Example: It is scientifically impossible to eat ciliegie in a non-sensual way!
Copertina
Pronunciation: Co-pehr-ti-na
Meaning: Blanket (noun)
Example: Brrr! Gimme some copertina, yo!
Furbo
Pronunciation: Fooer-bo
Meaning: Clever, smart, sly (adj)
Example: Getting the vacuum salesman to throw in a free juicer was a pretty furbo move on your part!
Pozzanghera
Pronunciation: Po-zahn-gher-ah
Meaning: Puddle (noun)
Example: A gentleman always lays his cloak over a pozzanghera for a lady.
Temperino
Pronunciation: Temp-ehr-ee-no
Meaning: Pencil Sharpener (noun)
Example: Don’t put your fingers in the temperino, stupid!
Tastiera
Pronunciation: Ta-stee-er-ah
Meaning: Keyboard (noun)
Example: I swear, if my computer freezes up again, I’m gonna throw the tastiera through the damn screen!
Carino
Pronunciation: Cahr-ee-no
Meaning: Nice/Cute (adj)
Example: Look at that guy’s jacket! How carino!
Grattare
Pronunciation: Graht-tar-ay
Meaning: Scratch (verb)
Example: Don’t grattare your itch or you’ll make it worse!
Sale
Pronunciation: Sah-lay
Meaning: Salt (noun)
Example: The supermarket is having a huge sale on sale! Let’s go stock up!
Formaggio
Pronunciation: For-mahdge-oh
Meaning: Cheese (noun)
Example: Scamorza is my favorite Italian formaggio, but provolone get’s me all excited too!
Stuzzicadenti
Pronunciation: Stootz-e-cah-den-tee
Meaning: Toothpick (noun)
Example: Nothin’ says Italian-American man like big sunglasses, a wifebeater, and a stuzzicadenti!
Luce
Pronunciation: Loo-chay
Meaning: Light (noun)
Example: Can you please tun off that luce! I’m trying to sleep!
Giornale
Pronunciation: Jour-nahl-ay
Meaning: Newspaper (noun)
Example: My Dad was a giornale delivery boy when he was a kid!
Puffi
Pronunciation: Poo-fee
Meaning: Smurfs (pl. noun)
Example: I love those mischievous blue Puffi!
Gabbiano
Pronunciation: Gah-bee-ah-no
Meaning: Seagull (noun)
Example: A damn gabbiano stole my tuna fish sandwich!
Sesso
Pronunciation: Seh-so
Meaning: Sex (noun)
Example: Man, there is a lot of sesso in Italian advertising!
Casa
Pronunciation: Kah-za
Meaning: House/Home (noun)
Example: I have to run casa real quick and let the dog out!
Scrivere
Pronunciation: Scree-vehr-ay
Meaning: Write (verb)
Example: Let me grab a pen so I can scrivere down your new phone number.
Ridere
Pronunciation: Ree-dehr-ay
Meaning: Laugh (verb)
Example: I guess in Italy they write ROL instead of LOL, ‘cuz they say “ridere“!
Pieno
Pronunciation: Pee-yen-oh
Meaning: Full (adj)
Example: I like to look at the glass as half pieno!
Gomito
Pronunciation: Go-me-toe
Meaning: Elbow (noun)
Example: The wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage was known for his famous “flying gomito drop” move against his opponents.
Fame
Pronunciation: Fa-may
Meaning: Hunger (noun)
Example: I fame for your love!
Figo
Pronunciation: Fee-go
Meaning: Cool (adj)
Example: That dude’s hairy chest, paired with his gold crucifix chain, is really figo!
Pace
Pronunciation: Pah-chay
Meaning: Peace (noun)
Example: Meditation gives me a sense of inner pace!
Libro
Pronunciation: Lee-bro
Meaning: Book (noun)
Example: There’s nothing better then curling up to a good libro with a cup of hot tea and a cat … except I’m allergic to cats!
Natale
Pronunciation: Na-tahl-lay
Meaning: Christmas (noun)
Example: I want to wish a Merry Natale to all my blog readers!
Guazzabuglio
Pronunciation: Goo-whats-ah-boo-leo
Meaning: A jumbled mess, a mish-mash (noun)
Example: What the heck have you done to my alphabetized and color-coordinated bookshelf? It’s a guazzabuglio now!
Amico
Pronunciation: Ah-me-co
Meaning: Friend (noun)
Example: Thanks for offering lunch! You’re such a great amico!
Pomodoro
Pronunciation: Poh-moh-door-oh
Meaning: Tomato (noun)
Example: I betcha can’t eat 5 minutes in Italy without running across a pomodoro!
Camminare
Pronunciation: Kah-mi-nahr-ay
Meaning: Walk (verb)
Example: I love that 80′s song from the Bangles called “Camminare like an Egyptian!”
Che barba!
Pronunciation: Kay bar-ba
Meaning: How boring! (literally – What a beard!)
Example: Che barba! This indie film seems like it will never end!
Pipistrello
Pronunciation: Pee-pee-strell-oh
Meaning: Bat (noun – the flying kind)
Example: Giuseppe, grab the broom! Another pipistrello has gotten in the house!
Occhio
Pronunciation: O-key-o
Meaning: Eye (noun)
Example: Can you keep an occhio on my glass of red wine while I run outside to check that my Vespa hasn’t gotten a parking ticket?
Sciarpa
Pronunciation: She-are-pa
Meaning: Scarf (noun)
Example: A sciarpa is a delightful Italian fashion accessory that can even be worn when it’s roasting balls hot outside!
Merda
Pronunciation: Mehr-duh
Meaning: Sh!t (noun)
Example: Go take a good merda for yourself!
I’m loving it.
Thanks for the support Alberto!
Nice start… I’d be curious to know the logic behind choosing these words rather than others
There is no logic at all! Whatever happens to be the first thing to come into my head (for example, for “camminare” I was actually listening to “Walk Like an Egyptian” and for “pipistrello”, I had some Halloween decorations up in my apartment, right in front of me…
Plus, the more random/useless, the better, right?
these words are very useful… especially the expression ‘che barba!’ – you should add next to it ‘frequent usage’(although, to tell the truth, its ruder version is way more frequent but maybe that one should not be added)…
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ahahah your Italian phrasebook is getting funnier and longer …loving it!
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Love the vocabulary! Thanks! Are you planning on adding more? I do think that you should advise your readers the the use of “ciao” is more like “ciao-ciao” and how prego is used!
Ciao Jeff! I do add more vocabulary from time to time. So far, I haven’t added anything really useful like ciao or prego, but i may eventually include some more useful vocab. Thanks!
Great stuff!
Thanks! You know what, I just finished reading Twilight! Now I gotta get the rest of the books!
How interesting is that
)) haha
Davvero interessante! It’s nice
Ti risponderò presto alla mail.
I’ll write an email soon
Thanks mille! Grazie alot!
Did you receive my email?
Hi Josè!
Yes, I did (I follow you on Twitter now and actually tweeted you about it). It was really helpful, thanks mille (or grazie a lot!).
I’ll e-mail you back tonight!
Hahaha that pipistrello made me crack up since you used to say you were the black bat of death- remember? Its the only reason I remember how to say bat in italian.
Yo, you remember ‘dat, right? “Io sono il pipistrello nero della morte!”
Hey! I love your blog
. It made me laugh…and I can definitely relate to some of your experiences living as an American in a small town in Spain. By the way, how did you get the “Translate this Blog” and “Blog Visitors from around the world” features?
Ciao! Thanks for stopping by! I took a peek at your blog too. I think the topic of gracefully growing older is a great one! I think I may have a blog post about a similar topic someday. I’ll keep you updated!
Anyhoo these two tools you asked me about are really useful for international bloggers such as ourselves!:
for the Flag Counter, go here: http://flagcounter.com/index.html (then just copy and paste the code they give you into your blog)
for Google Translate go here: http://translate.google.com/translate_tools (same deal as above!)
Hey Garrett! Thanks for the links. I’m a bit stuck on where to paste them into the widgets. I can’t find anywhere where they stick/fit on my widget dashboard.
. What I like about being in Spain is finding all the hilarious menu translations into English (like the other day “landfill of cheese”, i.e. some pasta stuffed with cheese 
.
By the way, I love your translation of invalids of war
I suppose that all WordPress themes are different, but mine has a widget called “arbitrary text”, where you can title it (ie. Blog visitors from around the world) and then paste the text into the body. Then you just save it, and you should be all set!
Hope it works!
P.S. I once saw the word “lobster paws” on the English version of a menu in Italy.
complimenti! thank you. i enjoyed reading your blog and getting to know you a bit.
Ciao Jen! I’m happy you found me! Stop back soon for updates!
Are you living in Bologna?
Guazzabuglio ? That is beyond cool – I think I have just found my new favorite word
Non l’ho mai sentito Garret. Grazie mille !
I love that word too! Il tuo compito è di usarlo in una frase oggi!
solo un guazzabuglio interiore può generare una stella danzante (cit)
Quanto profondo sei?
Grazie per la bellissima cit!
Non è profondo ma….
“Hai sentito cosa è successo al direttore dello zoo che ha tradito sua moglia?”
“No.”
“La sua vita è diventato un guazzabuglio bestiale”
Howzzat? How do we say “corny” in Italian ?
Har-de-har!
I don’t think the word “corny” exists in Italian. If I was forced to give you an answer, I think it’d be somewhere between “banale” and “tamarro“…
Nietzche rules (sometimes, not always, (Cocacola))
indeed, tamarro.
W i tamarri!
Hehe best phrasebook ever! I liked guazzabuglio a lot!
Thanks! It’s turned out to be the most popular word in my phrasebook thus far!
ahaha bellissimo… nella mia città c’era un locale in cui tutto il menù era scritto in questo modo… ogni volta era un casino ordinare da mangiare
Figo! Di dove sei?
wow, I’m attempting to learn Italian, so this is great!
-Tia
xx
Grazie, but I’m not sure how useful it really is! I mean, the words are pretty random and the context phrase is more funny than helpful.
However, I hope you at least find it entertaining!
ahahah it’s really funny, specially if you speak italian!
bye!
Kim
Grazie Kim! Any suggestions for future words?
In french, we also say “Quelle barbe !” also something can be “barbant”… bearding ? barbendo ?
Does is mean “what a bore”?
Yup. Boring or annoying.
Sto rotolando in terra dal ridere.
Io proporrei: piccione (che si diverte a smerd..mi la macchina), micio, bolletta, querelare, cartoccio…
Definitely a really nice blog. Good job!
Ooh! “Querelare” mi è nuovo! Dai, grazie per aver lasciato un commento e grazie per i sugerimenti!
Love the way you spelt “shit”
Haha! Thanks man!
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