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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Far cadere le braccia’

Keep your chin up, there's no need to feel disheartened about this phrase.

Italian expression of the day: ‘Far cadere le braccia'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

If you’ve felt disappointment, exasperation or discouragement at any point during your time in Italy, you may be able to relate to the imagery this phrase conjures up.

Far cadere le braccia (click here to hear it pronounced) literally means to ‘make your arms drop’.

It’s the phrase for those times when you’re so fed up of a situation that you might drop your arms, defeated and demoralised.

In idiomatic English, we might say, ‘Words fail me’ or ‘I’m absolutely speechless’.

Mi fai cadere le braccia. Perché sei così testardo?

Words fail me. Why are you so stubborn?

It’s likely to be accompanied by a sigh or a groan, just to really emphasise the level of discontentment with a situation.

As noted, it can be translated as feeling fed up or being at the end of your tether.

Mi fa cadere le braccia – ma perché capita tutto sempre a me?

I’m fed up – why does it always happen to me?

Queste stupide storie mi fanno cadere le braccia

These stupid stories are exasperating

To put it into the past tense, we need to use the auxiliary verb essere, because when we are dealing with verbs of motion such as cadere (to fall), Italian uses essere rather than avere.

Quando ho fallito il mio esame di guida, mi sono cadute le braccia

When I failed my driving test, I was down in the dumps

The phrase could also be translated to a single word in English in some contexts, conveying the idea of helplessness.

Talvolta ci siamo sentiti cadere le braccia

Sometimes we felt helpless

The reflexive verb sentirsi expresses the feeling – ci sentiamo (we feel) cadere le braccia (‘helpless’ in this context).

La guerra è così travolgente. Ci sentiamo cadere le braccia di fronte ad avvenimenti che sembrano superarci

The war is so overwhelming. We feel helpless in the face of events that seem beyond us.

On the positive side, you can also use the phrase to cheer somebody up, to give them a pep talk and tell them to hang in there.

Non farti cadere le braccia

Don’t get downhearted!

Keep your chin up!

Don’t give up!

An Italian song, Non farti cadere le braccia by Neapolitan singer Edoardo Bennato, talks about keeping going and not feeling downtrodden despite the hardships.

Non so se ti è capitato mai
di dovere fare una lunga corsa
e a metà strada stanco
dire a te stesso: adesso basta!
Eppure altri stan correndo ancora
intorno a te… allora:

Non farti cadere le braccia…

I don’t know if it ever happened to you
that you had to go for a long run
and halfway through, tired, you say to yourself: that’s enough!
And yet others are still running
Around you… then:

Don’t give up

Keep your chin up (and your arms) and have a go at using this phrase in your Italian conversation this week.

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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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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