Beyond the book

Italians really enjoy borrowing English and American words. If you watch Italian TV, read the papers or listen to people's conversations, the amount of English words used is unbelievable (that's if you can spot them - their pronunciation is often Italianized). Some people say this enriches the Italian language, others think the very opposite. Many people agree that this at least makes things easier for an English speaker trying to communicate in Italian. But that's not always the case! Many English words which are used in Italian no longer have (or have never had) the meaning they have in English.

If you heard Italians talking about 'gli slip', would you know they were referring to men's underpants and/or women's knickers? Another classic example is 'lo smoking', for Italians this is a dinner jacket rather than a smoking jacket. What about 'il pile'? That's a fleece. And finally there's 'il box' which you frequently see mentioned in estate agents' adverts in Italy. Well, that's a garage or lock-up.

On the other hand, English has also borrowed many words from Italian, and you might think that it makes perfect sense to use them when speaking Italian. But watch out! If you are ever invited to an Italian wedding, don't even think of buying 'i confetti' to throw at the newlyweds – they might find it quite painful. 'I confetti' are sugar almonds!