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ITALIAN LANGUAGE

What’s the one Italian word that English speakers find alarming?

The Italian language may sound like music to the ears of those who don't speak it - but there's one Italian word that doesn't sound so pleasant.

Published: 26 January 2024 12:57 CET
What's the one Italian word that English speakers find alarming?
This is one word Italian speakers won't want to shout too loudly when in English-speaking countries. Photo by Antonio Lapa on Unsplash

The Italian language doesn’t have all that many words that sound rude or shocking to Anglophone ears (unlike, say, Danish and other Germanic languages, which have no shortage of words which sound either comical or potentially offensive.)

But there is one Italian word in particular that readers say has earned them some funny looks when they’ve used it outside of Italy.

When we asked readers on our Facebook page which Italian words sound wrong to them in English, the one that came up again and again was dai.

“Bilingual kids going “daddy dai!” in the park!” said Laura Jayne Farminer.

Michelle Heron wrote: “I’m constantly having to tell my husband who’s Italian to stop shouting dai when we’re out walking our dogs.”

Innocently enough, dai means ‘come on’ in English, but with the pronunciation being so similar to ‘die’ it’s no wonder readers reported some horrified reactions.

And when combined with other, equally innocent Italian words, it can sound even more alarming.

“True story: Italian mom yelling “Dai, basta” in Italian at her kids running in a US store to stop running,” commented Linda D’Alessandro.

Sara Rovetto said: “Dai Giù! I’ve said that so many times to the dog or the kids before realising that ooooooops the bad looks were not directed to them but me.”

“Half my family is Jewish so that’s the very last thing I would shout on a bus or… anywhere.”

In Italy, dai is a word you’ll hear used very frequently by Italians, and it has a few possible uses.

But no matter how good your Italian is, as these examples show, it’s one word you might not want to use when you’re out and about in an English-speaking country…

Do you know any other Italian words that sound shocking to non-Italian speakers? Let us know in the comments below.

Member comments

  1. I was never comfortable when my children had an ‘interrogazione’ at school. It sounds far scarier than just being asked questions about a subject!

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ITALIAN LANGUAGE

Seven of Italy’s rudest-sounding place names

Some of the quaint villages dotting Italy’s countryside have names that sound less than wholesome - at least to English speakers.

Published: 15 March 2024 14:16 CET
Seven of Italy's rudest-sounding place names

Look at a map of any part of Italy and you’re likely to find some place names that will raise an eyebrow; there’s the town of Pozzo dell’Inferno (hell’s well) in Lazio, Casa del Diavolo (the devil’s house) in Umbria, or you could visit the hamlet of Sesso (sex) in Emilia-Romagna.

But you don’t need to speak Italian at all to find some of Italy’s place names amusing.

Arsoli

Anglophones might expect this sleepy town outside Rome to have a few unpleasant residents. The name doesn’t sound rude at all to Italians – innocently, it comes from the Latin name for a nearby hill (Arsula). Today, around 1,000 people are proud residents of Arsoli.

Bra

If you move to the pretty town of Bra, in Piedmont, you might have to put up with sniggers from English-speaking friends. You’d also have to watch out for the brazen bra thief of Bra who was once put under house arrest for repeatedly swiping women’s underwear from washing lines.

READ ALSO: The one Italian word that English speakers find alarming

Angri

Are the 34,000 inhabitants of this town constantly in a bad mood? You might worry that you’d be treading on eggshells in this corner of sunny Salerno, but luckily the name in Italian has nothing to do with temperament – it’s derived from the Latin word Angra, meaning cloudy water.

Bastardo

Unfortunately this town’s name means the same thing in both English and Italian, and its origins remain a mystery. Bastardo has “few redeeming features”, according to Wikitravel, and “is most certainly the least attractive town in Umbria”.

Orgia

Inviting someone to this hilltop town could lead to misunderstandings – the meaning in Italian is exactly what it sounds like to English speakers. In the midst of a forest in Tuscany, there’s plenty of privacy for a gathering in Orgia. 

READ ALSO: 12 rude Italian phrases that you can get away with in Italy

Purgatorio

Theologians have argued for centuries about whether purgatory exists and what it might be like. But this town’s residents know the answer. In fact, Italy has two towns called Purgatorio: one in Sicily, the other in Campania. 

Buggerru

Think twice before telling Anglophone friends you’re going here for the day. This pretty town on Sardinia’s rugged west coast is a popular tourist spot, which is in fact named after a local coal miner named Eccidio Buggeru.

Are there any other Italian place names that should be added to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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