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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Zitto’

Be quiet and listen to this Italian word.

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

No one could ever accuse Italians of being quiet people. If you want to get their attention (or just give your ears a break), there are times when you’ll need to know what to yell to get everyone else to shut the heck up.

For times like these, we bring you: zitto.

It means ‘quiet’ or ‘silent’, and you can use it either as a description or an instruction.

Quello chiacchierone non riesce a restare zitto un minuto.
That chatterbox can’t keep quiet a single minute.

Zitti! Sta per cominciare il concerto.
Quiet, everyone! The concert is about to start.

Zitto! O ti caccio via.
Shut up or I’ll kick you out.

To Italian ears, the word is onomatopoeic: it sounds like the noise of hushing someone. Think about it: have you ever hissed ‘ztttt’ to tell someone to keep their mouth shut? That’s where zitto comes from.

You can make it slightly more polite by saying stare zitto (‘be quiet’) instead of zitto alone. 

State zitti, per favore!
Please be quiet!

Then there’s making someone else shut up (far stare zitto qualcuno), rather than just asking them.

Non riusciranno a farmi stare zitto.
They can’t keep me quiet.

You can also zittire someone: ‘hush’ or ‘silence’ them. You can even do it to yourself, if you just mean that you stopped talking.

L’oratore zittì all’improvviso.
The speaker suddenly fell silent.

And doing things alla zitta or zitto zitto means doing them ‘on the quiet’ – ‘hush hush’. 

Si sono sposati alla zitta.
They got married on the quiet.

So that’s how to say ‘zip it’ in Italian, but we should make a disclaimer: there’s no guarantee anyone will listen.

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

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For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Al volo’

We’re sure you’ll learn this Italian phrase in no time.

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.

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

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