Spacone meaning flashy person (guido/mob wife type). http://www.localsyr.com/news/new-york-state-fair/pizze-fritte-54-year-old-new-york-state-fair-tradition. Vinnie from Buffalo & now in Cincinnati. Shun-gad .. a real low life They knew nothing (other than hearsay) of what was ahead, but were convinced a better life for their family kids was across the ocean. Lol I didnt even know the real name till i was way too old. Sites such as this can and will do just that. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); jeanne (can you belive they named me french instead of Italian lol), Joanne ( grew up in Queens, born in Brooklyn! Sometimes regional differences, Boston vs. NYC, might be also be due to effect of other immigrant languages. Hi Karen Sorry did not see your message until now a year later in 2016! My father is 1st generation, born in America. The list and comments just made my day! 2. Eegats may derive from this, picked up because it sounded vaguely like a euphemism for the Italian, e cazzo?, as in, WTF? (Although, it sounds like Nonna was saying more like GTFOH!). On the other hand spusdada does look like it has a connection with another Italian word spostata (Remember [t] frequently becomes [d] and the vowel sound [o] frequently becomes [u] in dialect). I am happily married retired these days and my husband has soothed and smoothed out my worriies and my emotions now about my Mother for over 43 years God Bless Him! Another is caca!! Hope this clears this up for you. Today the official language of Italian republic was once the dialect of Florentine raised to national status. (chissa?) It was never used a compliment. One thing I was hoping to find on the list but didnt, was something that my grandmother always used to say when she was fed up with something and I guess it would be the equivalent of for Petes sake or for crying out loud in English and that was Machidente or if she was really mad just MA(h) anyone know how to spell it correctly? Grazi Tant It is autonomous but a territory of Italy. I know there is a ton that you dont have in there yet but I always waondered why my father and grand father would say Putiga when suprised or as if to say oh my god. ), If I asked where we are going and she was pissed, shed say Buzzle la GAHNT. Was so neat. Ive always wondered if that was a Sicilian superstition, or just a thing in my own familyIve never heard anyone else saying that. My grandpa always pronounces it cooloo. I have no idea if this is a standard Gabbagul word or if its just because he never learned to speak Italian. Even if it had more vowels and syllables than folks in like Idaho would assume possible , Omg, its been forever since Ive heard anyone use gravy in that context. hows it going? Just wish to say your article is as amazing. what the heck are you doing?! . My mother used to say one that I still cannot find. Italy was unified and sicily incorporated in 1860. Spoken and understood here in Kearny, NJ and our roots in Brooklyn. Napiltons (Neopolitans from Naples) are criticized even in Italy for dropping all the endings of words. Not to me! My grandmother (Brooklyn from Caserta, near Naples) used to refer to children as quierdooday (phonetically) and not the standard Italian bambino. You ma-jah-gul-loop., I asked that too, lol. For capo fresco i came up with fresh head from google translate. We played Brisco and Scoppa too and we learned all the tricky ways of cheating and signaling your partner too. Figs were jarred and used to make delicious Xmas and Easter cookies! Malta is also close to mainland Italy and could be also part of Italy today as well if they were also conquered at the time, but was ruled by England in recent history and it is independent. It was also common in southern dialects to truncate the last syllable. However, spusada, which is what the first post was all about, evolves from official Italian sposata > spusata > spusada (Ital. My family still uses many of these words, mostly because there arent English equivalents. It is easy to see how compare in official Italian gets repeated as goomba, the [k] sound becomes [g] and the vowel [o] becomes prounced as a [u] (written here as oo). Some settled in Boston, some in Omaha (? go to hell! Itll be interesting to see how many generations these phrases live on in North America, or will they get lost in the broth of the melting pot? A great read! Its a fave. Everything is very open with a precise clarification of the challenges. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. It would be said as a greeting while pinching someones cheek. The language of those in power is always seen as standard. shame on you! usually shouted as she waved a wooden spoon at us. My grandfather from Cefalu, Sicily, used to call basil basalico with the accent on the last syllable. There are some words that are not literal translations. Wellfa vota literally would be go vote which is a relatively polite way of saying blow off..get lost or just go awaysomething like va Napoligo to Naples rather than go to H-. My husband says it all the time. Our neighborhood centered around our church and school and was settled mostly by the mezzogiorno immigrants from the southern regions and between 1900 and 1920. Your mingya could well be minchia or Wow !, an expression of surprise and impression, with all that implies. (vai a fare in culo) [VAA-faan-GOOL], vagaboom/vagabuma vagabond (vagabonda) [vaa-gaa-BOOM], vangopp go up/go upstairs (fa in coppa) [vaan-GOAP], veni ca/vieni qua come (over) here (vieni qui) [veh-nee-KAA], vedi caciunca/vidi cachunka! Una volta cherre uno Once upon a time there was one Thats the way my Dad (Elmont, LI by way of Lower Manhattan) pronounced it and the only way my brother and I know how to say it, There are many instances where southern Italian dialects substitute the sound [b] for [p] and [d] for [t], in addition to the vowel [u] for [o]. Couldnt find it in your glossary which by the way is quite extensive and brings back memories of my yoot, to quote Joe Pesci in My cousin, Vinny! That way, you're not constantly switching between two languages in your head. Anyone have a clue what this means? I also wonder if someone can tell me if I am spelling butan or butana right. There was another group of words that were interchangeable. My paternal grandmother and her family were gli stranieri, immigrants from Provincia d Avellino in Campania (Neapolitans). I have one more person to ask. Many Italians from the mainland did not consider Sicilians as real Italians. Many Gabbagool words are taken from Italiandialects, and different Italians in different areas spoke their dialects differently. I put together several videos of my family explaining the meaning of various Italian-American slang words (all my Grandparents born in Sicily and now families mainly based in NY/NJ area), and it is good to see some cross-referencing here! The meanings of individual words come complete with examples of usage, transcription, and the possibility to hear pronunciation. My Aunt shared so many of her experiences with us, especially her story of coming to America as a 7 year old and her amazement seeing tall buildings and paved streets! Nice to know I am remembering it the way my grandparents said it. your a true italian! She would tell us we were all sha-woo-dad and then straighted our clothing. paes. Oh I totally didnt make that connection to dice. Brooklyn folks are nice peopleI liked it/them better than LI. Sometimes dialecized as "mal oik" or "mal oak". [d] sound. I grew up in Lorain, Ohio during the 50s and 60s, the product of a Sicilian-Polish marriage. I grew up in Mechanicville, NY in the late 50s and early 60s. -ah-speth-a-mee-notes (wait a minute) Italian-American Slang. Its not canmma-nooch that Sonny says, speaking directly to Tom Hagen (although others may have been entering at the time). Both individuals who said this were from possibly Naples, Bari or Sicily. Every Saturday morning in Bensonhurst in the 1950s, a truck would come around loaded with gallon bottles of (apparently) home made bleach. I know this is not how its spelled. Grazie !!! Ill smack your face if you dont stop it! parkari lu carru park the car I dont know if this thread/site is still active or open, but if so, can anyone shed some light on this for me? (che cazzo fai?) Thanks. [aa-faa-NAA-boe-laa], agita heartburn/indigestion (acidit) [AA-jih-tuh], ammonini! Utenti del sito mobile: segnalateci qualunque problema. Apparently, much of this has to do with the dialect for certain parts of the country. And snail- which they pronounced as marruttz. Maybe Porca miseria. Literally, Miserable sow, but really more like, shit, or, dammit, or a slap to the forehead with an eye roll. It means someone who talks too much, or at least thats how we use it in our family! Sometimes, my Italian uncles would call me a jumba-lone when I was a kid. My mom, dad, and friends rarely spoke proper Italian, but spoke a combination of slang, dialect, corrupted Italian words, and made up words with Italian origins. [EE-dee-GAA-noesh], facciabrutt ugly face (faccia brutta) [FA-chuh-broot], faccia di katzo ball face (faccia di cazzo) [FAA-chaa-dee-KAA-tsoe], facciadu/faccia du two faced (facce due) [faatch-aa-DOO], facciu fridda its cold (fa freddo) [FAA-choo-FREE-daa], fugeddaboudit forget about it (forget about it), fanabola!/vanabola! Also I think I seen it referring to stomach/belly/abdomen/lungs? The dialects already distorted the Italian pronunciation. My grandfather always said something like male di cuah when something was broken or not working. Where does this come from? Sculabasta = colander They had a saying which only makes sense in Napolitan, but means nothing in English- it was, Manage o zutagil, which they said meant, Gosh darn, the mouse. day is de? It offers you quick access to synonyms, pronunciation and conjugation of a word, By adding words or expressions to the online dictionaries you can position yourself as a language expert, If you don`t know a word meaning you can start a discussion on it, or ask for its Italian English translation. love at first sight: stato amore a prima vista! The correct name is Javel and it was used as laundry bleach, pretty much the same as Chlorox back in the day. Have also heard it unkindly applied to peoplenot nice ! (a fa Napoli) [faa-NAA-boe-laa], fatti gatti due!/vatoli vatoli due! The two words are different in pronuncation and meaning in both official Italian and in southern Italian dialects. get down from there! Pythagoras was from Syracuse, for example. scoreggia: f. (pl. This site starts at the very beginning of the dictionary, and makes me scroll down through the entire comments section. In Italy no man with honor would pimp out his wife so calling someone a cornuto or cornude is like calling a man a cunt. I read a short article a long time ago about this phenomenon. It means goofy person (I believe). Most of this is Napolitano or Siciliano dialect, and would most certainly be understood in the south. I believe that /Y-E-O/, as you said they pronounced, wasnt the italians trying to pronounce hoe are you. nice job on maing this web site. It contains over 95638 terms and 212602 translations in both English and Italian and continues to grow and improve. Any suggestions at how to spell it phonetically? thats great . You will learna to speaka English Papa said: So we can observe frequent vowel shifting over time from [o] to [u] Kind of Americanized. Implied sarcastically or with disdain, or disgust. I would think Zi Francesc leaving off the o in zio (uncle) and the o in Francesco, In the Napolidan language they dislike using word endings to denote gender. There are also the zeppoli di San Giuseppe traditionally made for St Josephs Day (March 19th) which are a pastry puff filled with yellow cream and cherries, I was trying to find the spelling for cool-couli (cold ass), One that also comes to mind is Brishca brolia meaing a meal made from leftovers usually bound by eggs (sort of a garbage omlette) or to mean anythingb that was all mixed up. Conversations in my childhood home were held in a cacophony of English, Italian, Abruzzese and Napuletano. My grandmother, great-grandmother, and mother would put sliced, raw eggplant up in clay jars with olive oil, spices, and other veggies and we would put them on sandwiches. They seemed to speak the same or similar dialects. 'pa pdd chac tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'">, Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. I was taking Spanish and French and told my guidance counselor I wanted to take Italian as well. Gavedelle = oval shaped hard cookies with a slight topping of crushed nuts. Calencita, I am inclined to agree with Karen. Italian Slang Dictionary A. accidente m. nothing, zip; (lit. Jesus! italians say Oh mio Dio or Dio mio Ges or Madonna! and sometimes even mamma mia! , Actually, my mother would say Madonna Mia My Mother. And is there a word for adopted or adoption? Anyone hear capo fresco or fresh head? I stand Proud when I say that The Real italian Family way is and will always be very very Strong in my Tight Knit Family, We eat sleep and breathe Our culture still to this very day. My family was Avellinese. Thank you! However, the absence of a [d] or a [t] after the first posters second [s] (check his spelling of spusada versus your spusdada) leads to me to believe that the corresponding word in official Italian is in fact sposata (married status of a female, for example on an Italian passport.). When they used to watch me when i was little, i didnt alwyas understnad them. Everyone I could ask is deceased, Im gonna be 61 myself. lick the jewel. It is based on the Italian language,butit contains a mixture of Sicilian- and Neapolitan-inspired dialect words and phrases as well as English words. My family immigrated to Boston and Providence!! Mi fa cagare! The spelling looks nothing like the pronounceation.. the spelling is correct italian 100%. Whoever made this dictionarythank you very much. aduzipach!/aduzipazz! Ive studied language corruption. Growing up my ears heard Basa Nicol from a Calabrese dialect (with the very last syllable stressed). For example, my niecea teacher in Texasonce told her students as they walked through the corridor to an assembly, Straighten up this line. We played the same card game on Christmas and New Years eve but we called it seven and a half. [laa-SA-dih-daa], la vesa gazi swear word [laa-VAY-zaa-gaa-ZEE], ma che cozzu fai?! . Italians are the descendents of Germanic (Indo-European) tribes ultimately, from the Ukraine, just like the Greeks, Germans, Slavs, Celts. so when they say a fess e soreta they are saying to the fool that is your sister which is still cold. Thats what my grandfather used to describe the Calabrese and he was quite proud to acknowledge the phrase because, being from Calabria, it was a compliment. dialect spusdada. Thank you!!! Love the site. Brings me back to my childhood. Much of this comes from memory and familial recollection. scadol. young goats) just as children are sometimes so called in English. Very common phrase. Has anyone ever heard the word smozza tudda (pronounced smoe -tsah -TOO- dah) used for broccoli? There was even a restaurant by that name, but of course it was spelled phonetically Bajagaloops and was not a real Italian restaurant. where? (ma tu sei pazzo!) I cant believe it! It all made for a very rich gravy. They tell me that the dialects are dying out, and that everyone studies official Italian today, and that it is inappropriate to use a dialect with a total stranger. If you have played this game, shout out. (with cent sound like chent). I still use these dialect words all the time without thinking about it!! This word was used a lot in my Sicilian household, miss-keen-ah or mischina..basically a pathetic person. does anyone remember gloves being called wans or something similar to that. Thousands of useful phrases, idioms and examples. The spellings in thisdictionaryare somewhat arbitrary because these words do not truly belong to English or Italian; they are hybrid creations. I was told it was a standard Italian greeting; my aunt went so far as to have her license plate changed to read Y-E-O! English doesnt have the gli sound, per se, but has some characteristics of English y and l, true. Really nice job! In that case, it could be what are you saying. If a word has unknown origins or a pronunciation that is difficult to spell in the Italian language, I willspell it phonetically using English as a guide. Type a word in the search box above to look up a word. You can choose to search in both language directions or in just one direction. Does anyone know what it means and the possible spelling? what the f are you doing? The there were the lombards (long-beards) who were more recent teutonic people up north. I was reared in Wildwood, N.J. and my family used almost every slang you mentioned. As others have pointed out, the letter C at the beginning of a word turns into a G. Anyway, he mustve worked his way all the way over to So. And often very comical. [vee-dee-kaa-CHOON-kaa], walyun/wayo/guaglion/guaglio young man (guaglione) [waal-YOON], uarda/warda look! Without a repository for these words, they will likely be lost, as pidgin languages are difficult to sustain. Like, I ordered the zupa-da-pashe at that new restaurant on the avenue and it was nothing but un-gwike-ya. Lastly, what about coo-baad?, the feeling of being cramped or in a tight space. le ose se cudava. . (capisci?) Italian slang for friend. I heard many of these growing up. If you visit Italy and Sicily and talk to those who went to university you will learn alot. She has also said rome-bo-TONE-oh a couple of times, but if Id repeat that one especially, shes get mad and say shut up, that is a really bad word, so seems she didnt use sexual terms, or did she? In some areas its used to describe someone unusually skinny, pedophilia, and I've even heard homosexual. Saluti! The dawn of their arrival saw the Italian language being modernized. Our ancestors did not lack for colorful expressive phrases that squarely and succinctly hit their intended mark. Only he called it Biangoline [pronounced Beeahn-go-leen] , In my town, Dunmore, pa, it was referred to as LUNA. Italian-English dictionary by AllDict. I cant find it anyone on the web. Congratulations ! where? I forgot to mention fesse meant fool, also. They used to pronounce it ag ah da. [KAY-kaatz], chefai? It was like the word cafone. Thank you so much for this. Learn more. Any thoughts? Mangia - (Italian) - [You] eat; a common command in Italo-American households. He went away. We use it a lot because its fun to say. I still use all these words and they have been passed to my adult children. The very well known baccaous illustratesindicating back house or out house.not any Continental Italian root to that.purely a creative American Italian expression born of necessity. Some are fried with a piece of salt cod (baccala) inside, sort of a dumpling and served in place of bread at the traditional meatless meal of the pre-Vatican II Christmas Vigil. I still luv left-over pizza warmed in a frying pan! Tagged: agita, bensonhurst, brooklyn, butann, calabrese, capish, corleone, dialect, gabagul, gabbagul, godfather, goodfellas, goomba, goombah, guido, Italian, italian dialect, italiano, italy, made man, manhattan, neapolitan, pesci, sicilian, siciliano, slang, sopranos. Just my take on your interesting question. I thought he made them up. [go-maa-say-GYAM], goopalin snow hat (goobalini) [goo-paa-LEEN], goombah countryman/fellow comrade/godfather (compare) [goom-BAA], guacarunno someone (qualcuno) [gwaa-kaa-ROO-no], gumad mistress/girlfriend (cumare/comare) [goo-MAAD], guyasabbu? If you remember there was a song by Lou Monte, Pepino the Mouse. Mortadell is baloney not sausage, at least on Long Island and anywhere I have been for that matter. Dont forgetbasnigol which is Italian slang for basil! Italian language. Good work though. It reminds me of the actor who played Frank Pentangeli in The Godfather 2, whose name was Michael V. Gazzo. Lol, Thank you from the bottom of my Heart for writing this Dictionary, Mille Grazie !!! apertu. Hi Ralph, In linguistics it is taught that unstressed vowels are frequently weakened or eliminated. E BENE, CHE COSA VUOI PER CENA? American n. (resident of the Western Hemisphere) (residente dell'emisfero occidentale) americano, americana nm, nf. I almost took Italian in school. If anyone is interested, I cant tell you how much I LOVE these! Thanks, Geralyn Giese. fun, outgoing personalities LOVE for their families and freinds can always spice things up with a little scandal hold grudges FOREVER :) tend to have the same friends are never ashamed of their family very driven goal oriented people its own race separate from italians in italy very teasing and joking all of em are good cooks! [caal-uh-BRAYZ], calamad fried squid (calamari) [caal-uh-MAAD], capidan/capitan captain (capitano/capitan) [caap-ee-DAAN], cendann/cent ann a hundred years (cento anni); Note: said before a toast [chen-DAAN], che cozz? I had the same problem with Spanish. keep going! Top 5 sayings, I heard so much of from my angry all the time dad. (ue, compare!) Thanks! The translation to English would be equivalent to may you live to be a hundred years old. Many of them were told to me by my maternal grandmother, Marguerite Barbarotto from Palermo and the Bronx. They will always be saved in the comments section, which itself is a living document of the culture. If I remember correctly, it was used when someone did something stupid. Her mother had red hair and brown eyes.