Learn about two more proverbs--one of them concerns "scratching around"
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| Cinzia: Buongiorno a tutti and welcome to the ninth lesson of Impara l’Italiano con i Proverbi. |
| Marco: Learn Italian With Proverbs. |
| Cinzia: Ciao Marco. |
| Marco: Ciao Cinzia. How are you today? |
| Cinzia: I'm good, thank you. And who are you? |
| Marco: Bene, abbastanza bene - Good fairly good. Che proverbi ci hai portato oggi?- What proverbs did you bring us today? |
| Cinzia: Ha ha ha, oggi andiamo dritti al sodo. Today we get down to brass tax. |
| Marco: Ah, really? |
| Cinzia: Yes. I think you'll like this. For example, I've got one proverb that's about those people who never listen to their own advice. |
| Marco: Maybe I know the proverb you’re about to introduce. |
| Cinzia: Hehe, I know you know Marco. Because I’m sure you don't like these kinds of people either. |
| Marco: Yes, they easily judge others but they never look at themselves and weigh their own actions. These are the kinds of people with double standards. |
| Cinzia: Yes you got it. So maybe you can tell me our first proverb. |
| Marco: “Predicare bene e razzolare male”. |
| Cinzia: Yes, that's it. “Practice what you preach.” And literal means is actually "to preach good and scratch around bed.” |
| Marco: Scratch around? Are we talking about people or chickens? |
| Cinzia: Well, yes, we are talking about people. But in Italian you know, we simple use the verb Razzolare just to bring to mind the fact that in a chicken run there is a mess; the same mess that people can generate by acting badly. |
| Marco: That's a weird concept but nice, Cinzia. So someone who “predica bene e razzola male” hasn’t got the courage to support his own actions. |
| Cinzia: You are right. And this same someone is the one who “lancia la pietra e nasconda la mano”, is the one who attacks from undercover; someone who hides from the consequences of his own actions. |
| Marco: Yes, and he never shows himself. But he’s always ready to attack you from behind. |
| Cinzia: And “lanciare la pietra e nascondere la mano” literally means to throw the stone and hide the hand. It perfectly describes a person who is not the master of a situation. |
| Marco: Is it maybe related to the biblical saying “Chi è senza peccato lanci la prima pietra”? |
| Cinzia: Oh, wow, I don't know. Well, I don’t think so. In English this should be "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." |
| Marco: Yes, exactly. And what it mean is only those that are completely innocent should accuse and judge the guilty. Except that hardly anybody is actually completely innocent. |
| Cinzia: So you mean that no one should be hasty and judge others? |
| Marco: Yes. And all of us should analyze our own actions for judging others. |
| Cinzia: I wish everyone would do it. |
| Marco: I don't think it’s always easy though. |
| Cinzia: Yes, but at least we must try. |
| Marco: Well done, Cinzia. I can see why you want to introduce these meaningful proverbs. |
| Cinzia: Thank you Marco. Now let's take a look at today's vocabulary. |
| -- |
| Marco: Today's first word is... |
| Cinzia: Predicare. |
| Marco: To preach. |
| Cinzia: Predicare. Predicare. |
| Marco: Next. |
| Cinzia: Bene. |
| Marco: Good, well. |
| Cinzia: Bene. Bene. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: E. |
| Marco: And. |
| Cinzia: E. E. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: Razzolare. |
| Marco: Scratch about, scratch around. |
| Cinzia: Razzolare. Razzolare. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: Male. |
| Marco: Bad, badly. |
| Cinzia: Male Male. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: Lanciare. |
| Marco: To throw. |
| Cinzia: Lanciare. Lanciare. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: La. |
| Marco: “The”, feminine singular. |
| Cinzia: La. La. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: Pietra. |
| Marco: “Stone” |
| Cinzia: Pietra. Pietra. |
| Marco: Next word. |
| Cinzia: Nascondere. |
| Marco: To hide. |
| Cinzia: Nascondere. Nascondere. |
| Marco: And last word… |
| Cinzia: Mano. |
| Marco: Hand. |
| Cinzia: Mano. Mano. |
| -- |
| Cinzia: And so that's all for today's lesson. |
| Marco: So thank you, Cinzia, alla prossima. |
| Cinzia: Grazie e a presto. |
Comments
HideWe hope you liked today's proverbs.
Hi Cinzia,
I think you mean "da che pulpito viene la predica" which means that the person who is trying giving advice is making the same mistake or doing the same thing.
Literally, "look which source or direction or person the message is coming from".
Ex. like a smoker telling you not to smoke
or a liar telling you not to lie
'Pulpito' and 'predica' have religious origins I believe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulpit
and 'predica' which usually is done by your mom or the priest during the mass (you know the boring part about staff they do but you shouldn't do :smile: ). http://www.wordreference.com/iten/predica
As for your question...
Razzolare = to group together or pickup or go about something
Like "predicare bene e razzolare male" = not practice what one preaches.
As you can see, the word can be use for the same meaning of the proverb above.
Ex. Ho giocato a poker con Francesco e abbiamo razzolato il banco
I played poker with Francesco and we cleaned up the table
As in we took all the money or prices available on the table.
Ex. Ho razzolato negli avanzi di ieri.
meaning I went through the leftovers from yesterday.
Hope this helps, cheers!
Mi ricordo un'altra versione ma non so se lo ricordo bene:
Guarda chi predica dal pulpito!
Ha piu' o meno lo stesso significato di quello con "razzolare"?
Devo dire che sono andata su "Advance Blogs" and I really missed the batter between Cinzia and Marco. The Advance Blog is SO SERIOUS.