“Ecco le sue brioche” (“here are your brioches”), the baker said, handing me my order. “No, croissants, per favore”, I said, pushing the paper bag away. “Si, brioche”, he said, nodding. Frustrated because I couldn’t remember how to say “I ordered croissants, not brioches” in Italian, I opened the bag to reveal two croissants. The baker didn’t get my order wrong: brioche means croissant in northern Italy. Pan brioche (brioche bread) refers to the classic brioche.
More than 10 years down the road, I still love croissants and I still tend to raise an eyebrow when I hear an English word with a different meaning in spoken Italian.
Here are a few common English words you will hear often if you move to Italy. You might think you know what these words mean in your home country, but when you’re in Italy, you’ll be expected to use them as Italians do.
Beauty
If your Italian girlfriend asks if you’ve seen her beauty, because she can’t remember where it is, she’s not trying to be philosophical. She’s asking if you’ve seen her makeup bag, or beauty case—beauty, for short.
Box
When you rent an apartment in Italy, look for one with a box if you want a secure parking place that’s relatively affordable. In Italy, a box is a small garage that usually fits a single car and nothing else. Italians use the word garage, not box, for a proper garage, where you can park your car, as well as store other things, like boxes, bikes, and tools.
Water
Something that’s thrown in the water (pronounced vater) in Italy ends up flushed down the toilet. Water is the word for toilet in Italy. The Italian word for water is acqua.
Pile
You’re going on a camping trip and your Italian friend tells you to bring a pile jacket. He expects you to pack your fleece jacket (in Italy, pile is fleece).
Footing
Meeting an Italian passionate about footing is not as rare as you might think. If someone asks you if you’d like to go footing together, put on your jogging—not dancing—shoes. In Italy, footing means jogging.
Tilt
If your Italian co-worker’s PC has gone in tilt (literal translation of andato in tilt), it didn’t physically tilt. Usually rebooting the machine fixes the problem. And if your Italian boss says she went in tilt (andata in tilt) while giving a presentation to a client, she didn’t trip and fall. She experienced a brain freeze.
Plumcake
What’s a plum cake without a plum? A pound cake in Italy. The classic recipe for Italian plumcake has no plums.
Do you need a copyeditor for a document translated from Italian to English? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.
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Last revised on 19 June 2022
