Category 2

Now that the World Cup fever is over, I can again concentrate on writing about people who have helped me with my Italian.


As my vocabulary expands a little, I found myself chatting with people whose only common language with me is Italian. They made me think more in Italian and my little Oxford dictionary, indispensable.


Most of them are kind enough to explain unfamiliar words to me in simple sentences. I savour one session with Gelatino in which he lectured me on calling a person " chicken" in Italian. Here are the excerpts:


Gelatino: ahaahaha si da noi una persona che si dice pollo....vuole dire che è una persona stupida.

( For us, a person that one calls chicken...it means a person that is stupid )

Wan : Quello non so.

( I don't know that )

Gelatino: non importa io ti spiego 100 volte fino a quando tu capisci ok??

( Never mind, I explain to you 100 times until you understand, ok? )

...sai cosa è un pollo? ... un animale come gallina.

( Do you know what is a chicken? ...an animal like a hen )

...il maschio è gallo quello che fa amore con la gallina.

( the rooster is the male that makes love with the hen )

...pollo e' maschio.

( Chicken is male )

...ora hai capito gli animali?...adesso ti faccio gli abbinamenti tra animale e persona.

( Have you understood the animals now?...now I make for you the parallelism between the animals and a person )

...gallina= una donna che è stupida.

( Hen = a woman who is stupid )

...pollo= un uomo che è stupido.

( Chicken = a man who is stupid )

...gallo= un uomo che fa lo scemo con tutte le donne.

( Rooster = a man who fools around with all the women )

Wan : Scusa, intendi gallo anche sono uomini libidinosi?

( Excuse, do you intend to say that prurient men are roosters?)

Gelatino: Porco= uomo libidinoso. Maiale= uomo libidinoso.

( Actually porco and maiale are synonyms = prurient men )


Porco o maiale sono gli stessi animali ok?

( He explains that porco or maiale, they are the same animals )

Il gallo è quello che cerca di avere tante donne.

( The rooster is the one that seeks to have all the women )


( He mentioned a name ) è un gallo ma pure un pollo.

( He gave me an example of a so-and -so who is a rooster but also a chicken )


Gallo perche dice di avere tante donne. Pollo perchè lo trovo un po bambino.

( He is a rooster because he speaks of having all the women. Chicken, because I find him to be a bit childish )

Spero che tu hai capito.

( I hope that you have understood )


-----End of excerpt------


How could I say no to the final statement? How could I not be motivated to find out more about a discourse like this?