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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Italian word of the day: ‘Menefreghismo’

Don't give a damn about this word? You should.

Today's word speaks to a darker side of Italian culture: menefreghismo.

You might come across the term listening to Italians lament the way corruption and organized crime suck away desperately needed public funds, the way nothing gets done about the potholes and the rubbish lining the streets, and the way it's always someone else's pal who gets the job.

The problem that lies beneath all these things, they might tell you, is menefreghismo – people just don't care.

There isn't a direct translation into English: the word derives from the Italian phrase me ne frego, which roughly means 'I don't give a shit'. 

READ ALSO: Ten untranslatable words that only exist in Italian

That expression came to prominence during the Fascist era, when Blackshirts adopted lines sung by soldiers volunteering to fight in World War One: “I don't care if I should die for our sacred freedom!”

The slogan became a Fascist favourite (and continues to be used deliberately by neo-fascists today).

Benito Mussolini defined it as “an education to fighting, and the acceptance of the risks it implies… this is how the Fascist understands life as duty, exaltation, conquest. A life that must be lived highly and fully, both for oneself but especially for others, near and far, present and future.”

Others, though, read a different meaning: not caring meant looking out for number one and stubbornly or cynically ignoring any objections.

Menefreghismo ('I-don't-give-a-damn-ism') has become shorthand for a sort of pigheaded selfishness: as various dictionaries define it, 'indifference', 'a couldn't-care-less attitude' or 'a total lack of attention to other people or one's own duties'.

– Il suo è menefreghismo bello e buono!
– He simply doesn't give a damn!

Someone who exhibits such an attitude habitually is a menefreghista, a person who doesn't give a damn about anything (or a 'don't-give-a-damn-ite', if you will).

Don't be that person.

Do you have a favourite Italian word or expression you'd like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Rimorchiare’

Here's an Italian word you'll want to pick up.

Italian word of the day: 'Rimorchiare'

If you’ve ever studied for your foglio rosa (provisional driver’s licence) exam in Italy, you’re sure to have come across the word rimorchio (trailer).

Theory test T/F question: ‘The width of the trailer must never exceed that of the vehicle pulling it.’

Credo che dovremo noleggiare un rimorchio per trasportare tutta la merce.
I think we might need to rent a trailer to transport all the goods.

And rimorchiare, along with the more formal trainare, means to haul or tow.

La barca è stata rimorchiata a riva.
The boat was towed to shore.

But rimorchiare isn’t just used to talk about vehicles. It also means to pick or chat someone up, or hook up with them.

Sono usciti per rimorchiare.
They’ve gone out on the pull.

Se n’è appena andata con un tipo che ha rimorchiato.
She just left with some guy she picked up.

A rimorchiatore is a tugboat, but can also mean a player/persistent flirt, and rimorchione/a also describes someone who’s constantly chatting people up.

got talent nina GIF by Italia's Got Talent

In some parts of the country, meanwhile, you might hear someone described as a provolone – a big tryhard or wannabe player.

That’s a wordplay based on the reflexive verb provarci, meaning ‘to try it on with’, and the famous Italian cheese. 

È un gran provolone ma non riesce mai a rimorchiare.
He’s a real tryhard but he never manages to pull.

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

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