Ill smack your face if you dont stop it! slice eggplant very thin Not in my neighborhood. I also seen laca (?) & 2nd. Rhode island. I think it was meant as te gette u sangue which would mean Im gonna make you bleed, or more like Ill beat the blood out of you! We went over to their house for cake and coffee and their living room was so small I felt so coo-baad the whole time., Aha! dialect). (sei senti fame?) [gaa-PEESH], gaguzz muscles/idiot/money/squash (cucuzza) [gaa-GOOTS], gaguzzalonga big muscles (cucuzza lunga) [ga-GOOTS-aa-LOWN-gaa], gambarell/gambanell (door)bell (campanello) [GAMBA-rell], gavadeel italian pasta (cavatelli) [gaa-vaa-DEEL], gavone gluttonous eater (cafone) [gaa-VOAN], gettuzang/gett u sang work hard/bleed (gettare il sangue) [get-oo-ZAANG], ghiacchieron blabbermouth (chiacchierone) [gyaa-kyaa-ROAN], giambott Italian stew (giambotta) [jaam-BAUWT], giamoke/giamocc/jamoke idiot (giamope) [jaam-OAK], gomesegiam?/comesegiam?/gome se chiam how do you say?/whatchamacallit? and I dont remember the rest. SELF-DEFINITION definition | Cambridge English Dictionary That way, you're not constantly switching between two languages in your head. get down from there! A fact that embarasses me since I grew up in Italian neighborhoods in northern NJ.). The spelling is probably wrong but can someone tell me Im not crazy? (che malanova mi hai) [EE-maa-laa-no-mee-auw], lascialui! It is based on the Italian language, but it contains a mixture of Sicilian- and Neapolitan-inspired dialect words and phrases as well as . This is a wonderful forum, thank you. Sometimes when we wanted to go tell someone to go fuck himself, we wouldnt just say vafagul. Thanks! saluta. Forgive me if Im missing these in the list or comments above: -gualio (pronounced waleeo = gualione = guy, boy You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. I never heard the word biscotti. The site offers two English-Italian dictionaries: The WordReference English-Italian Dictionary is a living, growing dictionary. Means: Where did you go? ), i-malano-miau! Oh YES! My DNA mix is actually the norm for sicily and I also have blue eyes! In parts of southern Italy we find the word buffetta. Any thoughts?? Yes. fritatta (free-todd) egg sandwich. (hai capito) [eye-kaa-PEED], how ya doin? ), i-malano-miau! be quiet! incorrect spelling but the word is pronounced gen-don. The Cambridge EnglishItalian Dictionary is based on original research on the unique Cambridge English Corpus, and includes all the words at CEFR levels A1B2 in the English Vocabulary Profile. Where the work, of course, is intended extremely hard physically (like working in a farm, in mines ecc..). (ma che bella) [maa-KAY-bell], ma che quest? to be . She occasionally made a kind of stuffed bread she called what sounded like figuatz. He was clearly an exception to the vast majority of his fellows. get down from there! Kind of Americanized. As a result they were dynamic languages more subject to changes over time. The same reason I cant follow Portugese. testaduda, hard headed = my Northern Italian mom used to say capa tosta, which, in the Southern dialects, comes out as gabbadost. She also used another capa expressioncapa fresca, a cool head, only she meant it more as fresh (as in impudent) head. I heard Tony Soprano refer to someone on that show as being a gabbavrischia inma situation where my mother would have said her version of the expression, and so I assume thats a Southern pronunciation. Anybody know? Good work though. Thank you!!! Musutu mean bigga mouth.. official Italian capicollo becomes gabigullu or gabigull. But, I do enjoy learning more and more about Italian people and their languages and traditions. I feel your pain. zudiccie? Its funny that I now use fugazi rather than any English equivalent it just works better. (how are you doing? I grew up in Rhode Island. (do you) understand? We have made every effort to mark as such all words which we believe to be trademarks. I have sent this to many of my goombas that will love it !!! My Mother, Father and Grandparents, uncles and aunts allsaid these here things. LOL! I find this very entertaining. There are two words I cant seem to find anywhere in the depths of the mighty internet. Hey, maybe it was the Bronx/Yonkers version LOL!!! Welcome to the English-Italian Dictionary on WordReference. Rege mangia love (The king eats eggs?!) Not sure of the exact spelling, but Ill put it down as I think and then phonetically shcallamacaroon shhka-la-mok-a-roon Hope this helps. Every Saturday morning in Bensonhurst in the 1950s, a truck would come around loaded with gallon bottles of (apparently) home made bleach. Might you be referring to the chamber pot that was standard night time household equipment in the days before indoor bathrooms ? Where Italians not russians. Many of the words/phrases on this list are familiar! I remember sometimes shes refer to the bathroom as the buckhouse which I found out meamt back house/out house. And Paestum and Agrigento have better Greek ruins than anywhere after the Acropolis. Italian language in the United States - Wikipedia I think the spelling of many of the words is up for debate, because they really are primarily spoken. Che ma di ma di (if che is pronounced kay ) may also mean what of it? Its a fave. or Doggone!!!! Second generation Sicilian-American from from Caldwell in Essex County, New Jersey. skee-votesI wonder if thats where the term: it skeeves me comes from. (madonna mia!) Anyone else grow up hearing this? pouton (whore) poo-tahn [maa-ROAWN-aa-MEE-uh], menzamenz half and half (mezza mezza) [mehnz-AA-mehnz], mezzamort half-dead (mezzo morto) [METZA-moart], mortadell Italian sausage/loser (mortadella) [moart-aa-DELL], mortadafam really hungy/starving (morta da fame) [moart-aa-daa-faam], muccatori tissue (fazzoletto) [moo-kaa-TOE-ree], musciad mushy (musciata/ammosciato) [moo-SHYAAD], moosh-miauw very mushy (musciata miau) [moosh-meow], muzzarell/muzzadell Italian cheese (mozzarella) [mootz-aa-DELL], medigan non-Italian american/Italian who has lost his roots (americano) [meh-dee-GAAN], napoleedan/napuletan Neapolitan (napolitano) [naa-paa-lee-DAAN], numu fai shcumbari! I put together several videos of my family explaining the meaning of various Italian-American slang words (all my Grandparents born in Sicily and now families mainly based in NY/NJ area), and it is good to see some cross-referencing here! Remember that [t] in official Italian is often replaced by the sound [d]. They lived at first in St. Anthonys parish below Greenwich Village, then in the west 30s around 9th ave. My mother, born 1907, was the ninth of eleven children and didnt speak much Italian but words she did sometimes use were Neopolitan dialect. So there you have it, now you can call someone a fart in two italian dialects. Its a bit strange the way you wrote italian slang words and you catched very different dialects from different regions, but its a funny idea. I know this is not how its spelled. Unfortunately much of what I know in Italian is just curse words, lol. R everso offers you the best tool for learning English, the Italian English dictionary containing commonly used words and expressions, along with thousands of Italian entries and their English translation, added in the dictionary by our users. Ralphie. As a matter of fact, everyone here should create there own page! Trash/garbage= immondizia or in Rome monnezza. one very important word to add is goulee! My grandma used to say shacod (written how it sounded) for something that was a mess.she was napolitan from avellino.yours is very similar I guess the sound changes slightly from town to town. where does it hurt? bas a na gol.. basil No such word as MARON. I think it was a fast food place. actually fessa means fool. dialect spusdada. Just the thoughts of someone who grew up speaking dialect first, and later learned the official Italian (Florentine) at university. Italian slang for lazy person with a small dick. An unparalleled resource for word lovers, word gamers, and word geeks everywhere, Collins online Unabridged English Dictionary draws on Collins extensive language databases and covers many literary and rare words useful for crossword solvers and compilers as well as Scrabble players. My relatives always got a good laugh when I repeated words my own parents used to say in southern Ontario words that never caught on in southern Italy. The va, fa, and culo were drawn out with the cu in culo given an extra emphasis. (stai zitto) [stah-tuh-JEET], stendinz intestines/guts (inglese: intestines) [stehn-DEENZ], stugots/stugats f___ it (questo cazzo/questu cazzu/stu cazzu) [stoo-GAATS], struppiau extremely dimwitted (stupido) [stroo-pee-YAOW], stuppiau very dimwitted (stupido) [stoo-pee-YAOW], stuppiad dimwitted (stupido) [stoo-PEE-yaad], suprasa/suprasad type of salami (soppressata) [soo-praa-SAAD], ti voglio benassai I love you so much (ti voglio bene) [tee-VOAL-yo-TROAP-aa-SAI], un ada oda another time (un altra volta/un altra ora) [oon-AA-daa-O-daa], ue, goombah! When we got too loud, my dad would say, with a rising inflection (and some frustration), Stai zitto!. [aa-WOON-duh CHOON-kuh? Is anyone familiar with this term? Nuts in the head or dick head? (They used pee pots inside for when it was too cold at night in the winter to go outside). Never heard ming-ya-roll but a phrase we still use in my family is meeng-ya-moda, this refers to someone who tends to do things in a sloppy, lazy way. Ya, its guaglio, ubiquitous in Campania. what a shame! Collins English Dictionary | Definitions, Translations, Example I remember waking up on Xmas Day and running downstairs with my cousins to eat left-over home made pizza! Is there any way to go directly to the reply? I also wonder if someone can tell me if I am spelling butan or butana right. Hysterical stuff, as entire sentences are mixed in with the dialects, such as sti sciusi allucunnu naisi for these/those shoes look nice. Y O! and it cracks me up every time. I feel like I did this site a favor. She was nabolitan(again spelled out how it sounded) not neopolitan. hows it going? Please feel free to add to our ongoing comments section to share your words and stories! Communicate smoothly and use a free online translator to translate text, words, phrases, or documents between 90+ language pairs. Its like nails on a chalk board when I hear people say man-i-cot-i, or bis-cot-i, rick-cotta, or pros-cute-oh. One of my great aunts, after a meal, always said, Per la bocca, meaning she wanted just a little taste of something sweet to finish, For the mouth.. nervy. (WAAR-daa-laa-CHOON-kaa], zoot/zutt down/downstairs (sotto) [zoot], zutt u basciament down to the basement (sotto u basement) [zoot-oo-baa-shaa-MENT], ____________________________________________________________________________________________________. There are also the zeppoli di San Giuseppe traditionally made for St Josephs Day (March 19th) which are a pastry puff filled with yellow cream and cherries, I was trying to find the spelling for cool-couli (cold ass), One that also comes to mind is Brishca brolia meaing a meal made from leftovers usually bound by eggs (sort of a garbage omlette) or to mean anythingb that was all mixed up. Imagine never seeing a boat and then being packed like sardines in an old ship for weeks! Reading through this thread has filled me with nostalgia! Implied sarcastically or with disdain, or disgust. faccia tosta = brazen (literally: hard faced), My grandmother used to say faccia brut,meaning bad or ugly face .so makes sense faccia dos means 2 faced. She called it a coolie. So Southern Italian you mentoned yachetone is modern Italian chiachierione (pronounced something like kyakyerone, meaning chatterbox.. inculoAHmamate in culo a tua mama. Figs were jarred and used to make delicious Xmas and Easter cookies! | Privacy Settings, (=da sempre) since the beginning of the world : since the beginning of time ; since the world began ; from time immemorial ; always, good luck ; fingers crossed ; break a leg. The translation to English would be equivalent to may you live to be a hundred years old. ex: i would say, Im 52 and they would come back with something like per centanni any ideas? The rats). There were so many English words incorporated into not only the Italian language of early immigrants but into the dialects as well. I grew up with a different word for fart. Who knowsmaybe a reference to a local guy in the old country who was a big shot (bigga shotta). Ill kick your ass! heres some others i say/know of which i didnt see here fuocu mio means = my fire! They used to use a word that I cant find anywhere. dialect). Start creating a word list or do a quiz! My best guess is that this is a variation of the official Italian sposata which refers to the marital status of a female. do you feel hungry?/are you hungry? If someone from Spain tries to talk to me, I say: Im sorry, I dont speak Portugese and they ask me if I speak Spanish because they are speaking Spanish and not Portugese. Thanks for reminiding me of the good old days when they were here. Ciao, sincerely, Moe BellaGloria The italian Singer King of the 1 Hour Shows !! Growing up in Little Italy in the Bronx, the Belmont/Arthur Ave section, I am familiar with most of these phrases. The PONS Italian - English online dictionary is a free online resource for everybody. You are correct with pichadu. Anyone ever hear of the word yachetone (spelling??) (how are you doing? Does anyone know? Italians are the descendents of Germanic (Indo-European) tribes ultimately, from the Ukraine, just like the Greeks, Germans, Slavs, Celts. your sister!/your sisters a _____! The old woman circled and circled the store looking before she finally went to the man behind the counter. Some of the words I did not find here Abeetz for pizza; lacho bijok eat ct; possibly from lancia bigiocco(?) My family moved from Philly around 1900 to CT. Your mother would say, Its cold out, make sure you wear your coo-pa-LEEN today., [] salut (salute), bacouz (bagno), e la lista continua, se volete, qui. Sometimes an adult would use it as a mild oath. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. : we are from Bari in Puglia. It offers you quick access to synonyms, pronunciation and conjugation of a word, By adding words or expressions to the online dictionaries you can position yourself as a language expert, If you don`t know a word meaning you can start a discussion on it, or ask for its English Italian translation. Thats how it sounded when she said it you probably have the spelling right.she would say it playfully not really sure what it means. ), Although I appreciate your attempt to spread knowledge of (Southern) Italian-American terminology, a lot of it is misspelled and not accurate. It soon spread to many Italian communities across cities and metropolitan areas in both the U.S. and Canada. And, my mother used to say, fangool thea-de-mommeda. They come from Campania. It was pronounced beet-ah-bahn-ya. Google Translate. My Dad used to have a saying and im trying to get spelling. I was told by someone from Staten Island that two-faced was faccia dos or fascia dos (Im not sure of the spelling. NAPULETANO= SURACILLA (SU RA CHEELLA) Apparently, much of this has to do with the dialect for certain parts of the country. The real word would be chiacchierone (pronounced KYA-kye-RONE). My grandma used to call me that . it shows affection. With Reverso you can find the English translation, definition or synonym for American and thousands of other words. Grandma called them, Anisette Cookies, even though some were almond flavor and some were Anisette. Sounded something like parc-a ma-zel-ea usually said after someone was being stupid. hows it going? That was not a mistake, but a pattern found in many southern Italian dialects, where over time, the pronunciation of the vowel shifted one degree. They were a facia tu/te, a fesse tu/te, or a fessa/facia da sorida. (Facia was pronounced facchia). pronounced kee-ak-ya-done (done like own) My grandmothers were from Sicily and Calabria. Trying to get a spelling and meaning for ga gatz or just gatz. To mean stomic pains and food coming back up. a mama la adina use them but I cant put my finger on what they mean. Ive bookmarked it for reference. Once you've started feeling a bit comfortable in your language learning journey, it might be time to switch from an English-Italian Dictionary to an Italian-Italian one. My grampa (b.1873) spoke very broken-English yet taught us how to play Scoppa, Brisk, and on Xmas eve we all played Italian Blackjack (for pennies), called Sette Mezzo, minus the 8,9 10s. Im inclined to agree with Mike on this one. lol! Compared to the English expression starving artist I think the two convey a similar sentiment. What is your name? July 19, 2020. Sites such as this can and will do just that. I recognize a lot of the words on your list. Apple Watch. Get results from both the General dictionary and the Collaborative one through one single interface! possibly because the standard Italian una (a or an in English) is spoken as na in Neapolitanwhich is not by the way necessarily always a corruption of so called standard Italian by any means. ma-nej or ma-nejja (darn it, frustration) Anyone ever hear the word spusada? My family was Calabrezz. That is an easy one- the root word is aspettarethe Italian verb to wait. I thought that was the word for bleach cause I used the word in class once (ONLY) & everyone (teacher too) thought I was Oobatz!! YA DONE GOOD ! One thing to keep in mind is that there are at least three origins of the Italian language; the proper Italian, dialect specific to each region/municipality, and the bastardization of dialect we usually call Italian-American; which is the subject of this thread. (non fai scumbari) [NOO-moo fai shkoom-baa-REE], oobatz/patz crazy person (un pazzo/u pazzu) [oo-BAATZ], paesan fellow Italian countryman (paesano) [pai-ZAAN], pasta vasul Italian soup (pasta fagioli) [pasta-faa-ZOOL], pastin small, star-shaped pasta (pastina) [paa-STEEN], pizzagain Italian meat pie (pizzagaina) [pizza-GAIN], pizzolino afternoon nap (pisolino) [peetz-o-LEE-no], provalon type of cheese (provalone) [pro-v-LOAN], pucchiach/bucchiach bch (pucchiacha) [poo-KYAAK], rigott Italian cheese (ricotta) [ree-GAUWT], salud/salut be in good health (salute) [zaa-LOOD], shape-la-tass shape of a cup (shape of la tazza) [shape-aa-laa-taatz], scharol/scarol escarole/money (scarola) [shkaa-ROAL], schif/shkeeve to be disgusted by something (schifo) [shkeef], schifozz disgusting thing (schifosa) [shkee-VOATZ], scorchamend/scocciament a pain in the ass (scocciamento) [scorch-aa-MEND], scoochi-di-bandanz a real pain [scooch-ee-dee-baan-DANZ], scustumad stupid person (scostumato) [skoo-stoo-MAAD], sciumara river (fiumara) [shoo-MAA-raa], scobendo to sweep the floor (scopare) [sko-BEN-doe], scubata/scupata get laid (scopato) [SKOO-baa-taa], sculabast pasta strainer (scola la pasta) [skoo-laa-BAAST], scungill/scongigl cooked snail (sconciglio) [skoon-JEEL], sedeti/sededi sit down (sedeteti) [SEH-daa-dee], sesenta fame? I am inclined to agree with both of your posts. But then back then, guess bastard was bad. He said it was blood of my blood which is Sangue Del Mio Sangue. She cursed the spaghettis sisters face. I was recommended this web site through my cousin. [laa-SA-dih-daa], la vesa gazi swear word [laa-VAY-zaa-gaa-ZEE], ma che cozzu fai?! My parents are from calabria, so I understand a lot of this terms. Anyone know anything about that? thats great . Im Polish and Im writing my thesis on family values and culture of Italian-Americans based on The Sopranos, and this mini-dictionary happened to be really interesting, so thanks a lot for Your effort. I would think Zi Francesc leaving off the o in zio (uncle) and the o in Francesco, In the Napolidan language they dislike using word endings to denote gender. What Does The Italian Word Marone Mean In English? - ILoveLanguages (guarda!) My mom, dad, and friends rarely spoke proper Italian, but spoke a combination of slang, dialect, corrupted Italian words, and made up words with Italian origins. Also, a cousin married a non-Italian and he was forever greeted as Hey, Mangia-cake!. Xmas Eve was a feast for 40 people and the food was better than any restaurant could hope to serve. ah-speth (wait !) [aa-moe-NEE-nee], andosh!/andosc lets go! When Neapolitan grandfather was referring to a guy who had a high opinion of himself he would call him, Mastro Filippo ?????? Grazie a tutti coloro che sono venuti prima di noi e non dimenticate mai da dove vengono! Instead, it is a phrase used to describe a person who is so unfortunate as to be out of work, and cant afford to feed himself hence morto di fame. My grandparents settled in the North Bronx. Urban Dictionary: Italian-American and learn the NAPULETANO EXPRESSIONS. We had two kinds of fried pizza. Brooklyn folks are nice peopleI liked it/them better than LI. Yes I dont think to them I was the best child but the more I tried to please them the bigger the hole I dug! alito puzzolente m. bad breath; (lit. Id like to talk. Tips for Utilizing Italian Dictionary Apps to Suit Your Needs. I havent yet read every word in the comments but I will, when I have time. My dad used mostly Italian curse words. She would voice this all in one complete long senetnce: Go VAH-go vah-GAH, SCUDdy vah DAY-stah, BRUCE-t-cahDOANia, miz-diablo, voo-TAHN-noo-SHAKE-oo (might be scutty, day-stah = testa = head? The only thing I remember their parents yelling was: My mother told me never to marry a Neopalitan! MY mother told me never to marry a Sicilian!. They tell me that the dialects are dying out, and that everyone studies official Italian today, and that it is inappropriate to use a dialect with a total stranger. If you remember there was a song by Lou Monte, Pepino the Mouse. Any suggestions at how to spell it phonetically? I found this very interesting because I am studying Italian, but it was mostly unfamiliar to me because all my Italian ancestors came from northern Italy, mostly in the early to mid 1800s, and their descendants whom I knew (unfortunately) only spoke English. escarole To me being a female I never lived up to her standards but ya know you cant even please family all the time! We used (still use) gatzee/gatzees, meaning little decorative but useless things anyone else? English-Italian online translator and dictionary - Yandex Translate I was told many early Italian immigrants worked as laborers for contractors. You pretty much summed it up but correct some of those spellings. [way-goom-BAH], ufratu your brother (il fratello/tuo fratello) [oo-FRAA-too], umbriag/umbriacc/umbriago intoxicated (ubriaco) [oom-bree-YAAG], usorda your sister (la sorella/tua sorella) [oo-SOAR-daa], vaffangul!/baffangul!/ f you! It is not a stretch for someone with limited reading ability to hear Basa Nicol from the intended utterance basilico especially when there is universal familiarity with San Nicola (good old St Nick) and Basare (which is a variation of official Italian baciare (to kiss).