About Italian Language

McDonald�s Parla Italiano

2010-02-02T02:05:57Z

McDonald's has introduced a new line of "McItaly" sandwiches and salads in its Italian locations, including a burger topped with olive oil, onion, and smoked pancetta. To coincide with the new menu items is a marketing campaign with the tagline: "Il gusto McDonald's ha un nuovo sapore. Tutto italiano."

McDonald�s Parla Italiano originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 02:05:57.

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Sicilian Tragedee

2010-01-31T02:32:07Z

"Sicilian Tragedee," by Ottavio Cappellani (translated by Frederika Randall), is, according to The New York Times, "a funny novel that both celebrates and satirizes 21st-century Sicily...where donkey carts share the street with sports cars and everyone has a cellphone."

Sicilian Tragedee originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 02:32:07.

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Fare Il Pieno With a Subject Pronoun

2010-01-28T02:05:38Z

The New York Times crossword today features a clue for Italophiles: "Gas brand that's also an Italian pronoun." The answer, of course, is ESSO, a brand name derived from the phonetic pronounciation of the initials of Standard Oil ("S-O").

It's also one of those forgotten Italian subject pronouns that include egli, ella, esso, essa, essi, and esse.

Fare Il Pieno With a Subject Pronoun originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 02:05:38.

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Pin-up Italiana

2010-01-25T02:38:11Z

A community member of the About.com Italian Language Forums points outs out that sometimes "it's all right to use a foreign word when the Italian equivalent is awkward or non-existent."

Case in point is the term ragazza di cui appendere la fotografia alla parete—a pin-up!

Pin-up Italiana originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 02:38:11.

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Spaghetti Bolognese

2010-01-24T02:48:16Z

What, no more spag bol?! As if that colloquial abbreviation alone (common in the United Kingdom) isn't cringe-inducing, what about the possibility that no one makes spaghetti bolognese correctly?

In a report by the BBC, "Italy has begun a campaign to educate the world on how to make an authentic spaghetti bolognese...[since] according to the country's farmers union and top chefs everyone is getting the ingredients all wrong."

Spaghetti Bolognese originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 02:48:16.

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You Say Jukari, I Say Giocare

2010-01-19T02:52:44Z

Reebok and Cirque du Soleil have partnered to design and market a new gym workout called Jukari Fit to Fly, which combines suspension and cardio training. According to certain media reports, the name for the program comes from giocare, the Italian word meaning "to play."

Maybe. But you would have to be awfully dizzy from swinging on il trapezio to think that "joh-KAH-reh" (the approximate phonetic pronunciation of giocare) sounds like "ju-CAR-ee" (the approximate American English pronunciation of Jukari).

You Say Jukari, I Say Giocare originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 02:52:44.

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4th RAI Italian Fiction Week in New York

2010-01-15T02:50:01Z

RAI, the Italian state television channel, is sponsoring the 4th RAI Italian Fiction Week in New York. Below is the schedule of events:

PROGRAM
Tuesday, January 19
RAI Corporation—32 Avenue of the Americas
11:30 AM Press conference; screening of a short film titled "Rome," directed by Franco Zeffirelli

New York University's Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marim�
6:00 PM Screening of the TV-film Il Sorteggio (Drawn For Jury Duty), directed by Giacomo Campiotti

Wednesday, January 20
CUNY Graduate Center—365 Fifth Avenue
11:30 AM Screening of the documentary 50 Italiani, directed by Flaminia Lubin
6:00 PM Screening of the film Memories of Anna Frank, directed by Alberto Negri

Thursday, January 21
Italian Cultural Institute—686 Park Avenue (between 68th and 69th Streets)
11:00 AM Presentation of RomaFiction Fest 2010
11:30 AM RAI presentation to International Buyers
6:00 PM Screening of the TV-Film Little Dream, directed by Davide Marengo

Friday, January 22
Paley Center For Media—25 West 52 Street
4:00 PM Roundtable discussion with Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of WNET.org, and Paolo Garimberti President of RAI
5:00 PM Screening of the TV-Film Enrico Mattei, directed by Giorgio Capitani

4th RAI Italian Fiction Week in New York originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 02:50:01.

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Priest Chokers and Stranglers

2010-01-09T02:18:15Z

Perhaps no pasta shape has as many etymological interpretations attributed to it as strozzapreti (priest chokers) (also referred to as strangolapreti (priest stranglers)). The thin, slightly curled short pasta is (usually) made by hand with water, eggs, and flour (at least in Northern Italy; in the South, however, the name applies to gnocchi).

According to Three Monkeys Online, the name might refer to "...the tradition of Romagnian women preparing this type of pasta for the local priest, while the husbands, evidently a bit anticlerical, wished the priest would choke while he was stuffing himself with it." La Cucina Italiana claims that "the dish owes its name to the fact that its historically heavy texture was thought to be too tough for the delicate palates of priests, who might choke on it." And yet another source claims that the pasta was so good that priests gorged themselves on it and strangled.

Priest Chokers and Stranglers originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 02:18:15.

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Dustin Hoffman Needs Italian Lessons

2010-01-02T02:19:14Z

In a television commercial scheduled to begin broadcasting early this month to promote the Marche region of Italy, two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman recites "L'Infinito," a poem by the 19th-century Italian writer Giacomo Leopardi. But before the spot even airs, the actor is accused of butchering the Italian language. According to the New York Times, a critic in the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera praised Mr. Hoffman for his "commitment," but also complained of "the astronomical distance" between his pronunciation and "the Italian ear," adding that "he stumbles on the eternal words" of one of Italy's most revered lyrical poets.

Dustin Hoffman Needs Italian Lessons originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 02:19:14.

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Fantasia

2009-12-31T02:22:00Z

It takes a bit of fantasia to play calcio in Italy. According to Football Italiano, "...fantasia...is the spirit upon which all Italian football draws its energy."

Fantasia originally appeared on About.com Italian Language on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 02:22:00.

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