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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Italian word of the day: ‘Evvai’

Hooray for this Italian word of encouragement.

Italian word of the day: 'Evvai'
Photo: DepositPhotos

It's easy to get discouraged when you're learning a language. After the first steep learning curve, when conjugating the present tense correctly feels like a triumph, it's almost inevitable you'll slow depressingly down when it comes to picking up the harder stuff.

To anyone stuck on that miserable plateau, we say: evvai

It's an Italian term of encouragement, translating roughly as 'come on!' Some say it's an updated variation of evviva ('hurrah'), the somewhat old-fashioned term you'd use to wish health and happiness to, say, a reigning monarch.

Evviva la regina!
Long live the queen!

Alternatively you can translate evvai as a contraction of e vai: 'and go'. In fact it's both coming and going: the expression is used to encourage, like 'come on', but also to congratulate – like 'way to go!'

Hai avuto il lavoro? Evvai!
You got the job? Way to go!

Evvai is also, simply, a way to express happiness at something. It's the Italian 'yay!'

Ho vinto! Evvai!
I won! Yesssss!

So stick with it – and keep reading our Words of the Day, of course – and we promise progress will come. And you'll know exactly what to say when it does.

Do you have a favourite Italian word, phrase or expression you'd like us to feature? If so, please email our editor Jessica Phelan 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/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.

Don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our app (available on Apple and Android) and then select the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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