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Italian word of the day: ‘Tormentone’

This one's bound to get stuck in your head.

Published: 13 February 2019 18:35 CET

Italian word of the day: 'Tormentone'

Photo: DepositPhotos

With the winners of the Sanremo Music Festival still ringing in people's ears, it seems like a good time to turn the spotlight on the word tormentone.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about Sanremo, Italy's answer to Eurovision

If it sounds like a form of torture, well, it's not far off. The term comes from the verb tormentare ('to torment, pester, nag at'), combined with the suffix ~one that denotes large size. You can translate un tormentone literally as 'a big torment'.

What's that got to do with Sanremo? It's not a judgement on the entries' melodic qualities (or lack thereof): a tormentone is what you call a song that you hear over and over again.

Soldi di Mahmood è il tormentone di Sanremo.
Soldi by Mahmood is the hit of Sanremo.

Nera e Da zero a cento erano i tormentoni dell'estate 2018.
Nera and Da zero a cento were the big hits of summer 2018.

It's sometimes translated as 'earworm', the slightly too literal name for a song that gets stuck in your head, but a tormentone isn't necessarily irritatingly catchy. You just hear it over, and over, and over again. And then another few times more.

The term isn't just for songs: it also applies to anything that's repeated incessantly, for instance a comedian's signature punch line…

Il comico diceva il suo tormentone in ogni occasione possibile.
The comedian said his catchphrase at every possible opportunity.

… or a topic that keeps coming up.

Il matrimonio reale è il tormentone del momento.
The royal wedding is the buzz of the moment.

In fact, you can use it for anything or anyone that you're sick of the sound of.

Questo continuo passaggio di auto è un tormentone.
This continual passing of cars is a real nuisance.

Ma che tormentone questo signore!
What a pain this man is!

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 expression of the day: ‘Al volo’

If you’ve ever found yourself at an Italian airport and looked up at the departure board, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the word volo, which is the Italian equivalent of ‘flight’ – but also the first person singular of the verb volare (to fly) in the present tense.

And if you’re a fan of classical music, you may of course have heard of Italy’s famous opera trio Il Volo (‘The Flight’).

But what do Italians mean when they say they’re going to do something al volo (hear it pronounced here)?

Much like its closest English equivalent, ‘on the fly’, al volo has very little to do with aircraft or flying as it’s one of the most common Italian phrases to say that you’re doing something ‘quickly’ or ‘readily’, often without having prepared it or thought about it much beforehand.

Facciamoci una pasta al volo e poi usciamo.

Let’s cook some pasta on the fly and then get out.

Ho dovuto preparare la presentazione al volo perché non mi avevano avvisato della riunione.

I had to put the presentation together on the fly as I’d not been notified of the meeting.

But usage of al volo is not limited to practical actions or tasks you may do quickly and without much thought.

In fact, you can also pair it with the verb capire (understand), comprendere (comprehend) or imparare (learn) to say that you grasped something ‘immediately’ or ‘in no time’, meaning you won’t need any further explanation.

Tuo figlio capisce tutto al volo. Ha un grande futuro davanti a lui, a mio parere.

Your son understands everything in no time. He’s got a great future ahead of him, in my opinion.

And if you haven’t fully understood or grasped something on your first try (which is painfully likely when dealing with Italy’s infamous red tape, even for locals), don’t worry: you’ll always have the option to ask a domanda al volo, or a ‘quick question’, to clear up your doubts.

Another popular way to use the phrase is in relation to big opportunities, whether that be in life, in education or at work. So an opportunity that va presa al volo must be seized immediately as it’s too good to be missed.

Finally, if you’re planning on watching Euro 2024 matches on Italian TV over the next month, you may hear football commentators use al volo multiple times while analysing a match as colpire la palla al volo means to strike it while it’s in the air, or ‘volley’ it.

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