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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Gasata’

Try not to get too hyped up about this word.

Published: 29 April 2024 10:18 CEST
Italiian word of the day gasata
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

If someone’s particularly excited or pumped about something, in Italian you may hear them talk about being gasato/a (the ending will change depending on whether the subject is masculine, feminine, singular or plural).

Sono gasata per la tua festa di sabato!
I’m excited for your party on Saturday!

I bambini erani gasati all’idea di andare al luna park.
The children were stoked to go to the theme park.

As you might guess, gasato/a literally means ‘gassed’, which, along with frizzante, most commonly describes carbonated drinks or water.

As in English, it can also refer to killing people with poison gas.

With both these uses, there’s some debate over whether the spelling should be gassato/a, with two ‘s’s, or the softer gasato/a. 

Though the dictionary says both are acceptable, gassata has won out in recent years.

– Possiamo avere una bottiglia di acqua gassata e una naturale per il tavolo?
– Certo, ci mancherebbe.

– Can we have one bottle of fizzy water and one still for the table?
– Certainly.

Hanno gassato a morte l’intero villaggio.
They gassed the entire village to death.

When it comes to being excited or pumped, however, you’ll only see or hear the version with one ‘s’.

È estremamente gasato per questo nuovo lavoro.
He’s extremely hyped about this new job.

Devo ammettere che l’ultima volta mi sono gasata troppo.
I have to admit I got too worked up the last time.

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

Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download 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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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Alla frutta’

Learning this phrase will no doubt prove fruitful.

Published: 15 May 2024 12:32 CEST
Italian expression of the day: ‘Alla frutta’

If you’re a fan of fruity pastries and desserts, you may have already come across the expression alla frutta in an Italian cookbook or, perhaps, directly at an Italian pasticceria (pastry shop). 

Think, for example, of a crostata alla frutta (fruit tart) or a mousse alla frutta (fruit mousse).

But while alla frutta simply means ‘fruit-based’ or ‘fruit-flavoured’ in that context, what do Italians mean when they claim to be ‘at the fruit’?

Alla frutta is one of the most popular food-related idioms in Italian, and it is generally used to express any situation where you have no energy (either mental or physical), patience or hope left to carry on doing something. 

The idiom has no direct equivalent in English, but is usually translated using expressions such as ‘on my last legs’, ‘at the end of my rope’ or ‘at the end of the line’, or adjectives like ‘hopeless’ or ‘done for’. 

You can use it to say that you’re physically exhausted…

Forza. Abbiamo solo tre chilometri da fare. 

Scusami. Sono alla frutta. Mi devo fermare qua.

Come on. We only have three kilometres left to go.

Sorry. I’m on my last legs. I need to stop here.

Or to say that you have no patience left to deal with insufferable family members or friends.

La pigrizia di mio marito mi sta facendo impazzire. Sono veramente alla frutta. 

My husband’s laziness is driving me crazy. I’m really at the end of my rope. 

You may also hear Italians use alla frutta to refer to a poorly-performing sports team or a political party that’s not doing so well.

La Juventus e’ veramente alla frutta. Hanno fatto solo 3 punti nelle ultime dieci giornate.

Juventus are really hopeless. They’ve only gained 3 points in the last ten matches.

Senza la leadership di Berlusconi, Forza Italia e’ un partito alla frutta. 

Without Berlusconi’s leadership, Forza Italia is at the end of the line as a party.

Now that you have an idea of how to use the expression, you may wonder where it comes from.

Well, according to traditional Italian dining etiquette, fruit is the last course of a meal, meaning that there’s nothing left to eat after it. 

As such, being ‘at the fruit’ means reaching a stage where no further progress is possible and the only available option is to stop.

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

Make sure you 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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