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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Manovra’

You'll need to work this word into your vocabulary if you want to follow the Italian news.

Italian word of the day: 'Manovra'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Today’s word is one which you’ve probably seen in the headlines in Italian news recently.

As you might guess, manovra (hear it pronounced here) can be translated simply as ‘manoeuvre’; a word we’ve borrowed into English from French to describe a tricky or artful movement.

The word has a couple of senses in Italian, the most obvious being the same as in English:

C’era ampi spazi di manovra

There was plenty of space to manoeuvre

The verb in the infinitive in manovrare, and you can follow the standard grammar rules when using it.

manovra la barca abilmente

He manouvres the boat skilfully

But often you’ll need to add the verb fare (to do). 

fare manovra

to manoeuvre (a car)

fare manovra di parcheggio

To park – literally ‘to do a parking manouvre’

Una volta ho fatto la manovra di Heimlich a mia sorella

I once did the Heimlich manouvre on my sister

So far, so easy to talk about tricky movements.

But it gets murkier when you realise that manovra as a verb can also mean to ‘manipulate’, ‘steer’ or ‘influence’; and as a noun, it can mean ‘measure’ ‘ruse’, ‘tactic’ or ‘ploy’.

No wonder, then, that it’s used so often in a political context.

But it’s most often used to discuss one sort of political maneouvering in particular: that needed in order for the government to pass a budget law.

Una manovra finanziaria describes a financial plan, and la manovra often simply refers to the national budget law, or legge di bilancio, – which dominates news headlines at this time of year.

It can also be used in political news to describe other types of political maneouvering:

Of course, passing the budget requires no end of political maneouvering, which is why you’re likely to hear the word used so often at this time – with both of these meanings and more.

Il presidente ha manovrato la camera per far passare il programma.

Literally: The president steered the lower house in order to pass the bill.

By using it and noticing it you should, in time, gain an understanding of what exactly the speaker or writer means by manovra in different contexts.

Beyond the headlines, this is also a useful everyday word to know, whether for describing your latest hair-raising Italian driving incident or following political conversations at the bar.

As you can see, finding ways to use this word in a sentence doesn’t have to be una manovra difficile.

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

 
For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Cambiare registro’

Here's the Italian phrase you'll need if you're looking for a change.

Italian expression of the day: ‘Cambiare registro’

If you live in Italy or have spent a considerable amount of time in the country, you may have overheard an Italian parent telling their child they needed to cambiare registro right after they threw a tantrum. 

If you work or have worked in Italy, you may also have had one of your superiors tell you that a cambio di registro was needed in the office. 

But what do Italians really mean when they tell someone they need to ‘change register’?

Italians use cambiare registro to tell someone that they need to change their behaviour, manners or way to approach a particular task (including work or school assignments), usually because they’re not particularly happy with the way they’re currently handling things. 

It is generally used with the verb dovere (must/have to), which must be conjugated according to the person who could do with a ‘change of register’. For instance:

Non hai passato gli ultimi tre test. Devi cambiare registro se vuoi tenere la tua paghetta settimanale.  

You failed the past three exams. You need to turn things around if you want to keep your weekly allowance.

La tua performance al lavoro e’ stata insoddisfacente questo trimestre. Devi veramente cambiare registro il prossimo mese.

Your performance at work has been unsatisfactory this quarter. You really need to turn things around next month.

You could also say that a situation you’re unhappy with needs ‘a change of register’, without addressing anyone in particular. 

Ci sono cose ovunque. C’e’ bisogno di un cambio di registro in questa casa.

There’s stuff all over the place. Changes are needed in this house.

As you can see from these examples, there’s no single way to translate the phrase into English, though ‘turning things around’ and ‘changing up’ are popular translations.

And if you’re wondering where the expression comes from, it has nothing to do with Italy’s Registry Office (or Anagrafe), nor with any other part of the country’s public administration. 

Cambiare registro was originally a music-related expression as it referred to the act of changing the tone or range (registro in Italian) of some musical instruments, including pipe organs.

But, as in the case of many other Italian phrases and expressions, its usage was later extended to daily life situations to express a need for major changes.

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

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