We’re all prone to avoidant behaviours from time to time, and Italians, despite being more sociable than many of their northern European counterparts, are no exception.
Whether you’re avoiding a person or swerving out of the way of a pothole, there’s one verb in Italian that will do the job: schivare (pronounced skee-VAR-ay).
The word has the same root as schifare (to disgust or make sick): the early German Franconian dialect word skiuhjan, meaning to respect or revere something.
With schivare, this evolved into the idea of steering clear of something out of a sense of respect or reverence, and then just into avoiding altogether (with schifare it mutated one step further, becoming ‘to repulse’).
Schivare can mean to dodge or avoid a physical object, a situation or encounter, or a person.
È un soldato, è abituato a schivare lame e proiettili.
He’s a soldier, he’s used to dodging blades and bullets.
Devi imparare a schivare le buche guidando a Rome.
You have to learn to avoid the potholes driving in Rome.
Non so perché tutti mi schivano.
I don’t know why everyone’s avoiding me.
Bel modo di schivare la domanda.
Nice way to dodge the question.
The phrase ‘to dodge a bullet’, meaning to escape an undesirable situation or outcome, translates directly into Italian as schivare un proiettile.
Abbiamo schivato un proiettile, fidati.
We dodged a bullet, trust me.
Related to schivare, the adjective schivo/a means shy, timid, reserved, or self-effacing.
È una tipa schiva, non parla mai di se stessa.
She’s a reserved person, she never talks about herself.
È un animale d’indole schivo che non tende a mescolarsi ad uccelli di altre specie.
It’s an animal with a shy nature that tends not to mix with birds of other species.
Don’t be schivo! Try out these words in a conversation this week.
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