Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: confusion

Another problem: While in Italy, I thought I'd learnt the word for 'cool',
"figo" or "fico" or something similar. Anyway, I tried to apply it to
someone ("Sei figa"), and I seemed to accidentally insult her. It was a
while before I could explain that hadn't been my intention. Anyway, what was
I trying to say and what did I accidentally say?
raoul


:-)))
Figa means the unmentionable part of her anatomy.
Figo means cool. Not sure if you say it to women, as it's a masculine
word, but I'm sure one of the Italians will tell you.
-- 
Mary



LOL! ^_^
As Mary wrote you said something pretty different :).
Next time try using "forte".
Sei troppo forte --> "You're so funny!" or "You're so cool!".
Sei troppo il/la migliore --> "you are damn cool"
Sei un figo --> "You are a cool guy" or "You are a handsome guy"
Sei figo --> "You are handsome".
Sei una figa --> "You are a really beautiful girl" but it's derogatory
Sei figa --> "You are really beautiful", again, derogatory
Sei un grande --> "You are cool"
Sei una grande --> "You are cool" BUT be careful, because a lot of bad
sentences starts with "sei una grande...".
"sei una gran stronza", "sei una gran bugiarda", "sei una gran tr***".
Ok, there is "gran" and not "grande" but you can also say them using
"grande", even though is less common.
Be careful if you say "sei una grande", remember to lower the tone of
your voice at the end, or the girl will instinctively think you were
going to continue... :)
You can say "sei grandiosa" ("you're great").
I ran out of ideas... :)
Sebastiano
-- 
Por una mirada, un mondo;
por una sonrisa, un cielo;
por un beso... yo no sé
qué te diera por un beso.

word, but I'm sure one of the Italians will tell you.
Not really, no. Sei forte, sei tosta, sei ganza (regional).
Ciao,
-- 
Isa
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching
http://web.tiscali.it/alfabeto_auschwitz/index.htm

thanks to mary & isabella for clearing that up, and Sebapop for his
colourful range of alternatives. How unfortunate. She forgave me in the end,
though, as it's the same girl I was having the "Ti/vi voglio bene"
difficulties with.
raoul

 I ran out of ideas... :)
luckily....
LOL
CC

luckily....
Well, I guess it's my duty as Italian to help foreign people, don't
you think? ^_^


colourful range of alternatives.
Colorful?
http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Italian.html
That's colorful, but don't use them! :)
Btw, how do I have to pronounce your name, Raoul Parekh? I can guess
the name, but I don't know how to say the surname. I don't know how to
say the <kh> part in English.
Today I have learnt that Ralph Fiennes is pronounced like "Rafe Fains"
and that Adam Atkinson is pronounced like "Throatwobbler-Mangrove"
(^_^) so I know my instinct is unreliable.


 wrote in message
news:i0969vs7be0a4a9an...@4ax.com...

Well, it's not exactly english... a dodgy transliteration from the
gujarati/hindi who knows how long ago. Anyway, Raoul is Rowl for me, rather
than the more exciting spanish variety (I'm afraid I'm not sophisticated
enough to use phoenetic symbols), and Parekh is Parek with the 'e' as in
bet.
anyway, you seem to be italian, but your signature seems to be spanish, and
your english is eerily perfect. More info?
If only I'd learnt those expressions before my italian trip. Incidentally,
noticing the meaning of "buona donna", does "brava ragazza" mean anything
strange? Because someone told me that they were "una brava ragazza" and I
assumed they meant they were "a good girl", but perhaps that wasn't it at
all...
Thanks for that link, but loads of the english on the site is confusing.
e.g. what on earth is a "very fucking woman"?
raoul
raoul

e.g. what on earth is a "very fucking woman"?
I'd love to help you, but the term "smandrappata" is unknown to me.
I can guess that a "very fucking woman" is a woman that gets laid a
lor or a woman that is a perfect target for a screw (because she's
very beautiful or because she's easy).



yeah, that's another thing. I was checking out the english-english version
of the dictionary on that site and there were quite a few words that I
didn't know, as well as quite a few that translated slang into more slang.
raoul

 I ran out of ideas... :)
Sei stupenda, sei fantastica, sei grandiosa, sei la meglio, sei speciale,
sei unica...
Giovanni

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:b6v244$skr$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...

You've been unlucky though, I know many girls who wouldn't get offended if
you told them "sei figa".
Giovanni

didn't know, as well as quite a few that translated slang into more slang.
I can imagine. :) I have an American slang dictionary and I doubt that
every American knows all those words.
Please, when you reply to a message, cut the parts you're not replying
to. It's easy to read.
Thanks.
Sebastiano
-- 


sei unica...
Per un attimo ho pensato che ci stessi provando e volevo comunicarti
che sono un uomo. :)


very beautiful or because she's easy).
I think that "smandrappata" and "smandrappona" are typical
to Rome and surroundings and hardly understood elsewhere.
I don't know the origin of either term, but they both mean a
VERY easy woman or girl, who does just nothing to hide
the fact that she's always ready for a screw, and all you have
to do is ask.
I have sometimes heard "sgangherata" in the same meaning:
just to give you an idea, this one comes from *a door with
hinges worn out or broken from excessive or improper use,
which would no longer close properly and always remain
(partially) open* ...
That is, exactly the opposite of "una brava ragazza"  ;-)
Good luck, Raoul - HTH !
--
Gnomo
...any way the wind blows...



I think you are O.T. here.
You should post your question on it.cultura.linguistica.italiano
-- 
 Enrico
| 
http://web.mclink.it/MC2515
| I put a peace flag on my home page

 Another problem: While in Italy, I thought I'd learnt the word for 'cool',

As you can see, "figa" is a four letter word. ;-)))
Defining a girl as "figa", is quite a "hard" compliment...
Its meaning is "you're a cool one", but it also means
"you're a gorgeous one"... and not every girl can
appreciate the compliment.
But, if you tell a guy "sei figo", it means only
"you're cool"...
--
Er Roscio.

 you told them "sei figa".
Can you give us any address, phone number, e-mail... ?... ;-)))
--
Er Roscio.

 the guy - ehm - you.
and she specifically told me how "bello" she thought my friend was..
Incidentally, is "bello" just an incredibly flexible word, or are Italians
incredibly mawkish and over-the-top?
raoul


lol, I wish english slang was so inventive.
raoul

 You should post your question on it.cultura.linguistica.italiano
I probably am, but I'm looking for explanations in english, and all the
posts on it.cultura.languistica.italiano are in italian...
raoul


Don't worry, plenty of foreign learners of Italian post here.
-- 
Mary

 incredibly mawkish and over-the-top?
Extremely flexible.
You can use it for practically anything, like "nice" in English.
-- 
Mary

You can use it for practically anything, like "nice" in English.
True indeed, but he said "how "bello" she thought my friend was...".
In that sentence "bello" can only be "handsome".


 
True, and you wouldn't use it to describe food (I still make that
mistake after 20 years in Italy).
-- 
Mary

 you think? ^_^
Yeah right....help them to be smacked right on their face...
LOL
CC

 "you're cool"...
....bloody linguistic chauvinism....
CC

mistake after 20 years in Italy).
^_^. I would use "bello" to describe food only if I am talking about
the look of it. A "bella" cake is a beautiful cake, from an aesthetic
point of view. A "bella bistecca" is a big steak" and "bel piatto di
pasta" is a plate full of pasta, from a quantitative point of view. In
the second and third examples "bello/a" means "big amount".
Using "bello/a" to describe the taste of food is wrong but, you know,
it's not a huge mistake, and as I've already told you, your Italian is
way better than the one of some people I know. :)
Do you say "bello" and someone looks you with a puzzled expression?
Ok, let's say to him that you say "bello" because when you taste
delicious food, you become happy and so you use the exclamation
"bello!" to express your feeling of happiness. ^_^
Sebastiano/tangled speech


 someone ("Sei figa"), and I seemed to accidentally insult her.
or really unlucky or a very good morphing in action! ;)

> lol, I wish english slang was so inventive.
She has round heels.

 Figo means cool. Not sure if you say it to women,
No, you do not say "figo" (masculin) to a woman.
You could sometimes say "quanto sei figa" to a girl meaning "how cool
wou are", but only to a good friend and with big smiles, making clear
you are not making sexual comments!
(but it's a sort of joke, everybody will laugh  :-)
Instead, I would never use the "letter c" variant to say "cool" to a
lady.
-- 
Enrico (Rome, Italy)
| 
http://web.mclink.it/MC2515
| plz no email replies, reply in Ng

 Don't worry, plenty of foreign learners of Italian post here.
My mistake, then, sorry :)
-- 
Enrico
| Just my 2 cents
| Quella riportata è solo una semplice opinione personale
| di un italiano che si arrabbatta per imparare l'inglese