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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Italian word of the day: ‘Sfizio’

This word can be hard to resist.

Published: 13 January 2020 15:15 CET
Updated: 11 January 2022 14:12 CET

'Sfizio' written on a black chalkboard background

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Italy is a great place to give in to simple pleasures. That pastry you have for breakfast, or the extra cup of coffee you allow yourself after lunch. Or perhaps just those last five minutes taking in the sunshine when you really should be back at your desk already (ahem, guilty).

Naturally Italians have a word for such indulgences: sfizi (plural), the little ‘whims’ or ‘fancies’ that strike all of us now and then.

Uno sfizio (pronounced “svee-tsio”) is something you don’t need but for whatever reason, you want.

Ognuno ha i suoi sfizi.
Everyone has their whims.

In Italy such desires are often met by food, which is why you often see sfizi crop up on menus: it’s a term for all the extras you might be tempted to add to your order – ‘treats’, essentially. You might also see the adjective form, sfizioso, used to describe dishes (or any other things) that are ‘indulgent’ or ‘extravagant’.

Insieme ai vini vengono serviti sfizi locali.
Delicious local delicacies will be served along with the wine.

Questo gelato è proprio sfizioso.
This ice cream is really indulgent.

But uno sfizio isn’t just the thing that satisfies your craving, it’s also the craving itself. You talk about ‘freeing yourself from the whim’ (tolgiersi or levarsi lo sfizio), or as we might put it in English, ‘giving in to the urge’ or ‘scratching the itch’.

Oggi mi leverò uno sfizio, comprerò quel giubbotto che desidero da tanto tempo.
Today I’m going to give in to the urge and buy that jacket I’ve had my eye on for so long.

È uno sfizio che devo togliermi.
It’s an itch I just have to scratch.

Caprices like these can drive you to act per sfizio: ‘on a whim’, ‘just for fun’ or ‘for the heck of it’.

Me lo sono comprato solo per sfizio.
I bought it purely on a whim.

La Juve sembra quasi giocare male per sfizio.
Juventus almost seem like they’re playing badly for the heck of it.

Which sfizi will you give in to today?

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Italian word of the day: Metà vs mezzo

It’s often the case in Italy that you’ll find several words that mean something very similar, and it’s not always easy to know which one is appropriate. Our new mini series looks at some of the most common word pairs, and sorts out which should be used and when.

Why do I need to know the difference between metà and mezzo?

Because you’ll need to use both of them in daily conversation if you live in Italy, but the difference in meaning isn’t always clear.

What’s the difference?

When you want to talk about ‘half’ of something in Italian, it may seem as though you have two choices.

Depending on what you’re talking about, you could reach for either metà or mezzo (or mezza, which we’ll come to later) but many language learners say they’re not always sure which one to use in certain situations.

Put simply, the difference between metà and mezzo is much the same as the difference between ‘half’ and ‘middle’ in English.

Metà: a half, as in one of two equal parts of something.

Mezzo: the middle, as in equally distant from two points.

For example:

Ha mangiato metà torta

He ate half of the cake

Facciamo a metà

Let’s split it (in half)

E’ sdraiato in mezzo alla strada

He’s lying in the middle of the street

Non penso che ti dovrebbe mettere in mezzo

I don’t think she should be putting you in the middle of this

READ ALSO: Come stai vs come va

But is anything in Italian ever really that simple?

There are some specific situations where the two words seem to be used interchangeably, or where it’s not clear why one is typically used and not the other.

Confusion arises particularly around telling the time in Italian, as you could say:

Sono le undici e mezzo

It’s half past eleven

Il mio treno arriva alle 5.40: vediamoci dieci minuti prima, alla mezza.

My train arrives at 5.40: let’s meet ten minutes before, at half past.

Why in this case aren’t we using metà for ‘half’? And why is it sometimes mezza rather than mezzo?

The English ‘half past’ doesn’t translate literally into Italian. Mezzo is used here instead, since we’re talking about the ‘middle of’ the hour, the point equally distant between two hours.

This might take some getting used to for English native speakers, but it is pretty logical.

As for why it’s mezza in the second example, this isn’t because it needs to agree with the gender of the noun in the sentence.

In fact, dictionaries tell us it’s always more correct to use mezzo regardless (although many Italians themselves find this rule confusing.)

But, in this case, as the language guardians at Italy’s Accademia della Crusca explain, mezza may (if you prefer) be used instead of mezzo when we already know the time, or at least the hour, being talked about.

So if you had earlier told someone an event would start at 8pm, but it’s now been delayed by half an hour, you could then say:

Comincerà alle otto e mezza

But if you’re inviting someone for the first time, you’d probably stick to:

Alle otto e mezzo

This can be a lot to remember when you’re in the middle of a conversation, but with practice you’ll soon get a feel for which word sounds right in which context.

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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