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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Curiosare’

Here's a look at an Italian word you might be curious to learn about.

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

Curiosare is a word with no direct English translation, and which can be used in a few different contexts.

As you can probably guess, it’s related to the English word ‘curious’.

It’s a verb which roughly means ‘to look around’. This can have positive or negative connotations, depending on whether you’re describing someone’s diligent research or busybody nature.

You can curiosare in a shop, in a book, in which case it means something like ‘to browse’. But to curiosare is something more than absent-minded wandering, although there’s often not a specific purpose to it.

Curiosare tra le pagine di un vecchio libro
To browse through the pages of an old book

Curiosare nelle vie della città
To wander through the streets of the city

Curiosare nelle vetrine dei negozi
To look at shop windows

Curiosare in un archivio
To look through an archive

You can also curiosare into other people’s business, in which case it could be translated as ‘snooping’.

But it’s not always malicious or with any negative connotation; you might simply be interested to learn about your favourite actor’s previous films, or your new acquaintance’s Instagram.The only criteria for curiosare is that you’re doing the research/snooping/browsing in order to satisfy your own curiosity, rather than out of necessity or obligation.

Curiosare nella vita privata di qualcuno
To snoop into someone’s private life

Non per curiosare, ma…
I don’t mean to pry, but…

Its roots can be found in the Latin word cura meaning ‘concern’ or ‘care’, which exists in today’s Italian with the same meaning.

In Latin, curiosus had several different meanings, including ‘curious’ but also ‘meddlesome/inquisitive’, ‘someone who snoops/an informer’, ‘careful’, and ‘complicated’.

In Italian, the adjective curioso came to mean ‘curious/inquisitive’ just like the English adjective ‘curious’.

Italian also developed the noun curioso, which means both ‘someone who is (excessively) curious/nosy’ and ‘a curious/peculiar thing’. And that’s how we got the beautiful verb curiosare, to describe people doing something out of curiosity.

Do you have an Italian word 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.

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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