Roman Idiom Lessons. Good to know!
We are brave, so we want to venture in a mission impossible, well, if not impossible quite difficult. As every language also Italian has unique and untranslatable expressions, words and idioms.
These of course are linked to the culture and language characteristics. As most of you would know, Rome is a city with a unique nature, customs and of course with its own idiom. Since we like hard challenges, we are going to explain you some idioms of this colorful and funny dialect, showing the literally “translations” and the real meanings, in order to help you during your next trip to Rome.
s’è fatta ‘na certa > a certain has been made
This expression means that maybe it’s a little bit late and time to go is come. You can use it when you have to say goodbye and go away for some reasons. It come into use because a simple “it got late” was boring.
da paura > from fear
This is a very common exclamation used when you appreciate something and want to express your happiness or approval about some events. We can say this exclamation could be like “cool”.
nun t’allargà > don’t enlarge yourself
This is definitely one of my favorite, because perfectly represents how unique and fun “Romano” can be. No, this is not for someone that is getting fat, but it can be referred to someone that instead is talking too much or is getting overfamiliar with you. Use “don’t exaggerate” or “don’t go too far”.
aripijate > take yourself again
You will hear this often during fights among roman people.
Our advice is, don’t use this idiom if you don’t want to start a fight with someone!
When you think that a friend of yours is acting completely insane or is doing something strange, use this to mean “you’re crazy, get your act together”.
m’aa sento calla > i feel it warm to myself
I can hardly hold back laughing thinking about this expression.
How to explain this, well, it is used when someone vaunts himself, when he’s extremely self-confident about something or about himself in general. This is used when you feel “you are great” almost in an arrogant and exaggerated way, so you speak proudly and boast about something.
mò te tiro ‘na pizza > now I throw a pizza at you
We are against violence, so when we get angry we use to throw a pizza instead of giving a slap? No, it is just a metaphor when you are going to give a proper smack to someone. So, get prepared when you hear this fighting-gastronomic expression!
ma che davero davero? > but what really really
A very difficult one, we have to admit it.
When you are so surprised about something, you can use this spread roman slang idiom. It’s a reiteration to underline your surprise about a situation or something happened. It’s a sort of “Really? Really” but in a unique rhetorical question.
è tutto ‘n magna magna > it’s all an eat eat
Welcome back to italian rhetoric reiterations. We like to color our speaking so we make our expression quite exaggerated. This expression is usually used to talk about social or politics problems, to express your dislike about opportunism, greed and monkey business. We use this slang with the verb “to eat”, to mean that someone “eats a lot” to the neighbor’s disadvantage.
It’s all friends travelers, we are sure your Romano has improved, but we promise we are going to teach you others Eternal City’s idioms, so you’ll reach Roman proficiency level.
