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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Guasto’

Today's word is one to strike fear into the heart of any traveller in Italy.

Italian word of the day: 'Guasto'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

It’s one Italian word no one wants to hear muttered over the tannoy of a train station or airport: guasto.

It means ‘fault’, ‘failure’ or ‘breakdown’, and it’s what innumerable delays are routinely blamed upon.

Il volo Roma-Barcellona viene cancellato a causa di un guasto tecnico…
The Rome to Barcelona flight is cancelled because of a technical problem…

It’s not only planes and trains that don’t work. Guasto can be an adjective (‘faulty’) as well as a noun, and it can describe anything from machinery to people.

Il mio televisore è guasto.
My TV is broken.

If you approach a toilet door and find ‘Guasto‘ scrawled there, you’d better find an alternative: it means ‘out of order’.

And if someone warns you that the apple (mela) you’re about to bite into is guasta, put it down: it’s ‘rotten’. Mind you, the same goes for your molars.

Ho un dente guasto.
I’ve got a rotten tooth.

In fact, the word derives from the verb guastare, ‘to spoil, go bad, damage or ruin’.

It’s enough to put anyone in a bad mood. The word for that? You guessed it: guasto. In Italian slang, it’s sometimes used to mean ‘fed up’.

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

For members

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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