Say it in Italian: 10 untranslatable Italian words for foreigners

20 March 2021

People around the world believe that Italians are everywhere and that’s not far from the truth. On every trip we take to the most popular tourist spots, we can always single out the Italians with their high-pitched singing-like conversations, taking selfies or carefully listening to their group guide who desperately tries to keep them from getting lost holding a flag high above her head.

Beside tourists, there is indeed a very big number of Italians spread across the world, studying or working in a different country.

And, when living abroad, it’s only natural to get a grasp of the local language over time, faster or slower depending on each one of us. However, there are moments that all Italians experience when a comment to a situation or an expression just pops out in their own language as it’s the best way to put it.

So they find themselves in the tricky position of trying to explain to their international friends the meaning of it. Not always an easy task, especially when it comes to some ways of saying hard to convert to another language!

In fact, some expressions display their full meaning only in Italian and non-Italian speakers struggle to find an equivalent in English as the translation isn’t always accurate.

Let’s briefly go through some Italian “untranslatable” words that are so hard to find a perfect match for in English:

1. Boh. This is my favorite. It’s always hard for an Italian to accept the weird look on people’s faces after revealing that it only means “I don’t know”. This is because there is another perfect way of saying this in Italian but you would hear this one much more often. Let’s just say that those 3 letters are used as the laziest and most spontaneous reply when Italians don’t know how to answer a question. Sometimes muttering it between themselves when they are trying to make sense of something that doesn’t really seem to do.
2. Mamma mia! We need to thank the unforgettable ABBA for sharing this one with the world thanks to their ’70s hit that became the main motive of the movie and sequel that not one soul has missed. Also responsible for declaring Meryl Steep one of the wonders of Hollywood and certainly one of the coolest mums ever. Probably the most popular Italian interjection abroad, it perfectly sums up the hundreds of emotions that we feel while watching the movie: love, nostalgia, regret and rage. Its meaning really depends on the context — can range from wonder to fear to joy — and literally means “Oh my mother”.
3. Apericena. This is one of the things that expats miss most about Italy: the pleasure of an Aperol Spritz accompanied by finger food to enjoy after a day of work while chatting to friends about how the day went. And the good thing is that usually you only need to pay for the drink, food is free. Don’t Italians have the greatest ideas!
4. Dolce far niente. It doesn’t mean being lazy as many may think. It’s the typically Italian skill of being able to savour the moment and enjoy it without spoiling it. Pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness. Stop checking your emails, forget about the chores and don’t think about tomorrow’s errands. Dolce far Niente is something Italians embrace and something they do very well. If Julia Roberts was easily convinced in Eat Pray Love, why wouldn’t you?
5. Mah. Relative of Boh that we mentioned earlier, this monosyllable has no meaning and it’s used in situations when we don’t know what to think as they are either too awkward or upsetting. “No idea” can be a pretty way of translating it to non Italian speakers.
6. Meriggiare. Meriggio has to do with the warmest hours of the day, when the sun shines high in the sky. To Italians it comes naturally to escape the heat by resting in the open air, in the shade, maybe with a nice book to hand. Nobel prize Eugenio Montale dedicated a lovely poem to this lazy rest of body and mind. Relax guaranteed.
7. Pantofolaio. The pandemic forced many of us to behave like a good pantofolaio, certainly for longer than we would have liked (apart from the enthusiastic and short initial phase of crazy banana bread baking). In normal times, it’s used to describe somebody who loves spending too much time at home and therefore wears slippers (pantofole) all the time. You get the picture that is still clear as day in our minds… 3 words needed: bed, Netflix, crisps.
8. Menefreghista. It comes from the expression Non me ne frega simply put in English as “I don’t care”. Somebody who is selfish and only thinks of himself. In a nutshell, who couldn’t care less about other people.
9. Magari! This word has a similar meaning to “I wish” in English. The Italian intonation that emphasises the second syllable (magaaari!) points to the strong desire to achieve something, be it a new car or a dream job.
10. Allora. Ah, raise a hand if you never heard an Italian starting a speech with this word! Is it weird that it doesn’t really mean anything at the beginning of a sentence? Pheraphs. It depends on the context. It can be used with a temporal meaning like “at that time, in the past” or to talk about an action that takes place as a consequence of another one “so or then” or as a way of collecting your thoughts before making a decision. Simple isn’t it?

That being said, if what we covered above helped you to get more familiar with some Italian expressions, you are already on the good path to understand a bit better your Italian friends. And I assure you, they’ll be glad.

However, everybody knows that only 50% of the Italian language is made up of words. Body language in Italy is the most important part of making your point and you can’t really speak Italian until you master the use of the hand gestures in the conversation. It’s like a one man show, where the host keeps the public entertained while singing and dancing, moving its body at the rhythm of the music. And that rhythm is the Italian way to communicate.

A little warning: if you want to jump into the world of the Italian hand signals, practice them with your Italian friends first to be sure you’ve got the right movement, otherwise, a potentially embarrassing situation may arise. Just one more potential way to insult people without meaning it.