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| Marco: All About Italian Lesson 15 - Top Five Pet Phrases from the Italian Teachers |
| Marco: "Bentornati." Marco here, welcome back to All About Italian lessons! |
| Laura: "Ciao sono Laura." Hi, everybody, this is Laura. In today's lesson, we'll cover the Top Five Pet Phrases from the Italian teachers. In other words, they're the best of the best Italian phrases from the ItalianPod101.com team! |
| Marco: Wow, the best of the best! It was hard, but we chose these phrases because of their practical usage. |
| Laura: Their frequently requested meaning or translation. |
| Marco: Their frequent use in Italy. |
| Laura: And finally for their cultural aspects. Are you ready? Let's start! |
| Marco: "Cominciamo!" The first phrases we are going to cover are… |
| Laura: "Salute!" and "Cin Cin!" |
| Marco: Aha! We are talking about toasting here! |
| Laura: Yep! When toasting in Italy, people usually say "cin, cin!" |
| Marco: My friends also say "salute!" |
| Laura: Sure, sometimes "cin, cin" is followed by "alla salute" or simply "salute!" |
| Marco: "Salute" means "health" in Italian, right? |
| Laura: Yes, Marco, by saying "buona salute" to the other people who are holding their drinks, you are wishing them to have a "good health." |
| Marco: By the way, I think it is interesting to notice that the word "salute" in Italian can have another usage that has nothing to do with "cheers." |
| Laura: Ah, right! That is the English "bless you," used when someone sneezes. |
| Marco: In this case, first we say "salute" to the person who sneezed, and then we should be usually answered by "grazie," meaning "thank you." |
| Laura: Okay. Let's try a practical example. Marco, sneeze please! |
| Marco: What? I can't do this on purpose! |
| Laura: Mmm… |
| Marco: Okay, okay. I'll try…etchuuuuuu! |
| Laura: "Salute!" |
| Marco: "Grazie!" |
| Laura: Perfect, Marco, but let's go on now… |
| Marco: Next we have… |
| Laura: "Non c'è problema" and "va bene!" |
| Marco: Oh, this is very useful too for our listeners! |
| Laura: In Italian, the expression "non c'è problema" is frequently used. |
| Marco: In English, this is literally "there is no problem." |
| Laura: Sometimes we also say "non c'è nessun problema" or the plural version "non ci sono problemi." |
| Marco: When everything is okay, you can also use the Italian… |
| Laura: "Va tutto bene!" |
| Marco: This is because the phrase "va bene" stands perfectly for "it is okay!" |
| Laura: Yes, but recently the use of the English "okay" has also spread among Italians. |
| Marco: That's true! So if you are suggesting a place or something to do, don't be surprised if you are told "okay" by Italians. |
| Laura: "Bene, bene, andiamo avanti!" |
| Marco: Next we have... |
| Laura: "Buona fortuna" and "in bocca al lupo!" |
| Marco: Whenever you want to wish "good luck" to someone in Italian, you only need to say "buona fortuna!" |
| Laura: "Fortuna" is a feminine noun and means "luck." |
| Marco: But I prefer to say "in bocca al lupo!" It has the same meaning but it's more fun! |
| Laura: It is, because if we translate "in bocca al lupo" in English it literally means "in the mouth of the wolf." |
| Marco: And please remember, when you are told "in bocca al lupo" in Italy, you absolutely have to answer by saying… |
| Laura: "Crepi!" |
| Marco: This stands for "die," obviously referring to the wolf. Poor wolf,. |
| Laura: Haha! |
| Marco: Let's try an example, Laura. Now we are… |
| Laura: Now we are at college, and you are going to have an important exam. Okay, so…"Hey Marco, in bocca al lupo!" |
| Marco: "Crepi!" |
| Laura: This was an appropriate situation where you can use this phrase. |
| Marco: This lesson is very fun and reminds me my daily life in Italy! |
| Laura: I know, I know. And what do you tell me about your "amore" in Italy, Marco! |
| Marco: Hey, that's too personal! Why are you asking me? |
| Laura: Because the next topic for our best phrases is love. |
| Marco: Oh, I see. |
| Laura: Marco, do you remember that song by Dean Martin…"That's Amore?" |
| Marco: Sure! It's so famous! |
| Laura: Why did he use "amore" in Italian to say "that's love?" |
| Marco: Mmm, that's interesting! |
| Laura: I think because Italians are renowned to be warm and romantic people. |
| Marco: They are proud to say that they spend their entire life seeking, burning, and suffering for love! |
| Laura: In a couple, we call each other "amore mio" or simply "amore" and "tesoro." |
| Marco: "Tesoro" literally means "treasure." |
| Laura: But relationships in Italy tend to be so important that it's normal to call or meet a friend every day. |
| Marco: That's so true, and it's also normal to hear them calling each other "amore" even between friends! |
| Laura: However, when the moment to express our feelings comes, there are basically two sentences that clearly give a different level of intensity. |
| Marco: I know! You are talking about the difference between "ti voglio bene" and "ti amo." |
| Laura: Exactly! When I am saying "ti voglio bene," which means "I love you," I am usually talking with a friend or a relative. |
| Marco: On the other hand, "ti amo" expresses the real love between a man and a woman! |
| Laura: True! For Italians, "ti amo" has a very strong meaning. So if you say that to someone, it means that you really fell in love with him or her. |
| Marco: Eh, "l'amore, l'amore." |
| Laura: There are thousands of love phrases in Italian, but we gave you just the more common ones. |
| Marco: Okay, I think we can go on now. The next best of the best Italian phrases are… |
| Laura: "E' stato bello" and "mi sono divertito un sacco." |
| Marco: In Italy, it's very easy to have a really good time with friends, and whenever you want to express how great it was you can use both these two phrases. |
| Laura: "E' stato bello" can be translated into "it was great." |
| Marco: Or it was "fantastic," "fabulous," or "terrific!" |
| Laura: "E' stato" is the verb "essere," which means "to be," at the "passato prossimo," the "past tense." |
| Marco: When can we say and hear "è stato bello?" |
| Laura: After a pleasant experience, from the most intimate to the simplest one. |
| Marco: Simple like after a movie, a concert, and so on? |
| Laura: Yes! |
| Marco: Let's break down the sentence "mi sono divertito un sacco." First, we have "mi sono divertito." |
| Laura: "Mi sono divertito" is the reflexive verb "divertirsi," which means "to enjoy" or "to have fun," at the "passato prossimo" tense of the first singular person "io." |
| Marco: Thank you, Laura, for this grammar explanation. |
| Laura: "Prego!" But if you take "un sacco" in Italian it literally means "a sack" or "a bag." |
| Marco: Oh, really! I like this expression by the way. I always imagine someone holding a real sack full of something, but it stands for "a lot," doesn't it? |
| Laura: Right! "Un sacco" is frequently used with the meaning of "a lot" in Italy! |
| Marco: So, to summarize, "mi sono divertito un sacco" is "I had such a good time!" |
| Laura: Or "I really enjoyed it." |
| Marco: If you use one of these two expressions with your Italian friends, they will be definitely glad! |
| Laura: Sure! So, Marco, did you enjoy this lesson? |
| Marco: "Sì, mi sono divertito un sacco!" |
Outro |
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| Laura: So this does it for today! |
| Marco: Can I say "ciao belli" to our listeners? |
| Laura: Ah, ah, real Italian slang! This can be the last of the best of the best Italian phrases! "Ciao belli!" |
| Marco: Please try using the phrases we covered the next time you have a conversation in Italian! |
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