A semi-regular feature in which I share a handful of curious words or expressions.
English might be a Germanic language (hint: it is), but it’s got a boatload of words come from Latin and Latinates. From the world of food, to art, to music, and organized crime, English has Italian words up the ol’ wazoo.
1. spaghetti. A noun describing a noodle-based food with sauce. Example: Never order spaghetti at a truck stop because they always skimp on the sauce.
2. graffiti. A noun describing drawings or words painted in public spaces, often on walls, often without permission. Example: The spray paint factory is expected to issue a public apology for all the graffiti and, next year, offer a more traditional Halloween handout.
3. mafia. A noun describing to a group of organized criminals. Example: It’s hard to break into the mafia these days, which is why disorganized crime is so much more prevalent amongst youngsters.
4. opera. A noun describing a specific kind of music and singing, the ensemble that performs it, and the place it is performed. Example: It’s best not to clap your first time at the opera because you’ll probably get the timing wrong and nothing pisses of opera-types more than missed cues.
5. tarantula. A noun describing a large hairy spider. Example: Despite being named for the city, there are, in fact, no tarantulas in Taranto, Italy — save for little Jimmy’s pet tarantula, which died recently, returning the city’s tarantula population to zero until his next birthday.
Interestingly, many loan words are either mass nouns or take an “s” for the plural form in English, regardless of their original morphology.
Here are some more Italian words in English, if you’re interested. Here’s something else, if you’re not.