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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Pantofolaio’

This word describes a certain type of comfortable lifestyle.

Published: 10 November 2022 16:23 CET
Updated: 26 January 2024 14:34 CET

Italian word of the day: 'Pantofolaio'

Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

A pantofolaio – click here to hear it pronounced – is defined in he dictionary as a “person who spends life in their slippers”.

In English, you might lovingly refer to this person a ‘homebody’, or less kindly as a ‘couch potato’.

The Italian word pantofolaio is derived from the word for slippers (pantofole), and, as you can probably guess, it describes a person who prefers a quiet life – in the comfort of their own home.

The word has been around for decades, and some say it comes from the French pantouflard, which means exactly the same thing.

It’s a way of living that some of us adopt as the weather gets colder, and one that we might be all too familiar with from 2020.

I lockdown sono stati difficili, anche per i pantofolai a cui non piace uscire

The lockdowns were hard, even for the homebodies who don’t like going out

It also suggests that a person might be particular about their habits, and somewhat set in their ways.

While some might use it as a mild insult, we probably all know one person who’s happiest at home with a good book – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Non so se andranno d’accordo. Lei è una pantofolaia e non le piace andare alle feste, mentre lui è sempre in giro.

I don’t know if they will get along. She is a homebody and doesn’t like going to parties, whereas he is always out and about.

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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.

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