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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Di cotte e di crude’

Here’s why Italians talk about ‘cooked and raw’ things all the time.

Italian expression of the day di cotte e di crude
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

It’ll hardly come as a surprise to any of you, but Italians have a very special relationship with food. 

As such, many terms and expressions that originated within the confines of Italy’s vast culinary lingo have over time spilled over into other areas of life and are now regularly used to describe situations that have little or nothing to do with cuisine.  

That’s certainly the case for ‘di cotte e di crude’ (pronunciation available here).

Now, the expression literally translates into English as ‘[anything] from cooked to raw food’, thus hyperbolically referring to the wide spectrum of dishes a cook could possibly prepare.

But, while its original meaning doesn’t really require any further explanation, what does the idiom mean outside of the cooking world?

Briefly, Italians use ‘di cotte e di crude’ to refer to all sorts of odd, surprising or unexpected things they might have done or experienced while also slyly avoiding going into great detail about them. For instance:

Com’e’ andata ieri sera?
Ah, credimi, ne ho veramente fatte di cotte e di crude.

How did it go last night?
Oh, believe me, I really did all sorts of things. 

As you can see from the above examples, ‘di cotte e di crude’ is generally used together with the verb ‘combinare’ (to get up to) or ‘fare’ (to do). 

However, verbs such as ‘raccontare’ (to tell), ‘sentire’ (to hear), ‘vedere’ (to see) or ‘passare’ (to live through) can also be used.

Regardless of the verb one chooses to use, it’s worth keeping in mind that the verb must always be preceded by the pronoun particle ‘ne’ (e.g. ne ho fatte, ne ho combinate, ne ho sentite, etc.).

And some native speakers might choose to use ‘di tutti i colori’ (which literally translates into English as ‘[things] of all colours’) instead of ‘di cotte e di crude’. 

Ne ho sentite di tutti i colori ultimamente.
I’ve heard all sorts of things lately.

The two expressions have exactly the same meaning and they require the same grammatical construction (‘ne’ plus verb plus idiom). As such, they’re totally interchangeable.  

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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.

Don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day by downloading 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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