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Italian Chats
by icchkmacao
Dante’s word of mouth
By Dante Alighieri Society
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Welcome all from Dante Alighieri Society Hong Kong! On the occasion of the 700th Anniversary of the father of the Italian language, Dante Alighieri, we want to celebrate him by launching a string of famous Italian expressions that come straight from “Dante’s mouth”. Indeed, this year we celebrate his death, but we often don’t realize how present he still is in the way we talk. So, join us in the discovery of the intriguing origin of Dante Alighieri’s “immortal” expressions that we have inherited and that keep living in our everyday conversations!
Have you ever wondered why do we use “this” or “that” specific word or expression? And why is it in that specific occasion? Proverbs, idioms, metaphors or simply words that sound so common to us are none other than the results of the ever-evolving language. The spoken language, in particular, adapts so fast to times that, most often, we barely know the fascinating origin of what we are saying. Indeed, in spite of the continuous transformation of the Italian language throughout the years and the emergence of neologisms, many words derive from ancient times and are now fully embedded in our everyday language and life. And just like many British poets, like Shakespeare, gifted and enriched the English language, so did Dante with his Divine Comedy by filling Italian with a variety of popular words and expressions. So, let’s start by rolling out the first series of Dante Alighieri’s word of mouth!
We cannot but start with the expression used by Dante Alighieri to call our beloved home and that better enclose the beauty of Italy:
literally meaning “The beautiful country”
A truly poetic expression that refers to the wonderful Italian weather, landscape, and artistic culture as it is in Dante’s Inferno, canto XXXIII, verse 80: “del bel paese là dove il sì suona”. And you? Have you ever been to the Bel Paese?
literally “stay cool” or “you can go whistle for it” are immersed in the frozen Lake Cocytus with icy wind. The more their bodies are submerged in water, the more serious is the penalty they have committed. Now, to better understand its current use, imagine that you leave your favourite cake in the fridge, thinking that you will eat it when you get back home, tired after a long working day. But you’re not living alone, and your roommate says: “if you think you’re going to find it when you get home, stay cool!”.
Nowadays, it can be used when you hand over your school assignment but start complaining with you schoolmate about what could be changed and he replies “What is done is done” or in current Italian “Quel che è fatto è fatto” and you can’t take it back or change it.
“Cosa fatta capo ha”
from Inferno canto XXVIII. In English we say “what is done is done”.
“Fa tremar le vene e i polsi”
is a gothic expression to say “being extremely terrified”
and that we can find in the very first canto of the Inferno. It is used by Dante to express the strong feeling of fear in front of the wolf he run into while wandering in the dark forest, the famous “Selva oscura”. Wouldn’t you be scared as well? During childhood, for example, little kids are afraid of the dark and falling asleep because of the monsters under the bed and this belief makes “their veins and wrists tremble”.
It’s an invitation to live as human, with dignity and not as beasts, enjoying the benefits of the intellect. These words are pronounced by Ulysses who embodies the positive figure of the man who dedicates his existence to knowledge.
This expression can be found in the Inferno V, and used by Dante when he hears the tormented screams of the damned. It is a very common expression in the Italian everyday language. Indeed, when we need or must switch from a positive to a negative topic or from good to bad news, we often say “Passiamo alle note dolenti!”
Last but not least…
“Fatti non foste a viver come bruti”
in the Inferno canto XXVI, literally means “you were not born to live like brutes”
“Or incomincian le dolente note”
can be translated as “let’s move on to the painful note”
“Beautiful person”
from probably one of the most famous verses written by Dante and we bet you all know: “Amor, ch’al cor gentil ratto s’apprende / prese costui de la bella persona che mi fu tolta; / e ‘l modo ancor m’offende” (Inferno V). These words are pronounced by Francesca da Rimini to refer to herself, a beautiful person thanks to her inner characteristics that made the kind (cor gentil) Paolo Malatesta immediately fall in love with her. So, we usually use it to express that the exterior aspect is not as important as who we are the inside.
To quote the great Poet: if you believe that’s all…“stai fresco!” The expressions he gifted us are too many to fit in just one article. Many more to come! So, make sure you don’t miss out our next series of Dante’s word of mouth, and in the meantime, you can practice these poetic yet current expressions with your friends!
For info on how to improve your Italian or learn it from scratch, you may contact:
DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY 1/F Honest Building, 9-11 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong ladante.cc | dantealighieri@ladante.cc
