No one likes to spend too much time thinking about the worst-case scenario.

But today’s phrase is for when you can’t help facing up to just how bad things may get: male che vada, ‘however badly it goes’.

If you don’t recognise vada, that’s because it’s the subjunctive form of the verb andare, ‘to go’, which gives the phrase a hypothetical feel: it’s like saying ‘however badly it may go’.

It’s not as negative as it sounds, however.

The closest equivalents in English are probably the expressions ‘if the worst comes to the worst’ or ‘worst-case scenario’, which you typically use to present some kind of contingency plan.

– Ti andrebbe di andare a fare una passeggiata?
– Ma il meteo dice che pioverà…
– Dai, usciamo lo stesso! Male che vada andiamo al bar a prendere un caffè.
– Do you fancy going for a walk?
– But the forecast says it’s going to rain…
– Come on, let’s go anyway! Worst-case scenario, we’ll go to the bar and get a coffee.

In other words, even if things go wrong you know what you’ll do about it.

Sometimes male che vada is, in fact, downright optimistic. It can be the equivalent of ‘at worst’ or ‘at the very least’, something you say to indicate that even the worst-case scenario really isn’t that bad.

Male che vada, questo tirocinio arricchirà il mio curriculum.
At the very least, this internship will add to my CV.

Cosa aspetti a chiederle di uscire? Male che vada ti dice di no e per te non cambierà nulla.
What are you waiting for to ask her out? At worst she’ll say no and it won’t change anything for you.

So try saying male che vada next time you want to reassure someone (including yourself) that however bad things go, you’ll deal with it.

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