Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

ITALIAN LANGUAGE

Seven of Italy’s rudest-sounding place names

Some of the quaint villages dotting Italy’s countryside have names that sound less than wholesome - at least to English speakers.

Published: 15 March 2024 14:16 CET
Seven of Italy's rudest-sounding place names
Buggerru beach, Sardinia, Italy. Photo by Massimo Virgilio on Unsplash

Look at a map of any part of Italy and you’re likely to find some place names that will raise an eyebrow; there’s the town of Pozzo dell’Inferno (hell’s well) in Lazio, Casa del Diavolo (the devil’s house) in Umbria, or you could visit the hamlet of Sesso (sex) in Emilia-Romagna.

But you don’t need to speak Italian at all to find some of Italy’s place names amusing.

Arsoli

Anglophones might expect this sleepy town outside Rome to have a few unpleasant residents. The name doesn’t sound rude at all to Italians – innocently, it comes from the Latin name for a nearby hill (Arsula). Today, around 1,000 people are proud residents of Arsoli.

Bra

If you move to the pretty town of Bra, in Piedmont, you might have to put up with sniggers from English-speaking friends. You’d also have to watch out for the brazen bra thief of Bra who was once put under house arrest for repeatedly swiping women’s underwear from washing lines.

READ ALSO: The one Italian word that English speakers find alarming

Angri

Are the 34,000 inhabitants of this town constantly in a bad mood? You might worry that you’d be treading on eggshells in this corner of sunny Salerno, but luckily the name in Italian has nothing to do with temperament – it’s derived from the Latin word Angra, meaning cloudy water.

Bastardo

Unfortunately this town’s name means the same thing in both English and Italian, and its origins remain a mystery. Bastardo has “few redeeming features”, according to Wikitravel, and “is most certainly the least attractive town in Umbria”.

Orgia

Inviting someone to this hilltop town could lead to misunderstandings – the meaning in Italian is exactly what it sounds like to English speakers. In the midst of a forest in Tuscany, there’s plenty of privacy for a gathering in Orgia. 

READ ALSO: 12 rude Italian phrases that you can get away with in Italy

Purgatorio

Theologians have argued for centuries about whether purgatory exists and what it might be like. But this town’s residents know the answer. In fact, Italy has two towns called Purgatorio: one in Sicily, the other in Campania. 

Buggerru

Think twice before telling Anglophone friends you’re going here for the day. This pretty town on Sardinia’s rugged west coast is a popular tourist spot, which is in fact named after a local coal miner named Eccidio Buggeru.

Are there any other Italian place names that should be added to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Member comments

  1. Bastardo was supposedly originally “l’osteria del bastardo”, a coaching inn on the Via Flaminia, around which the modern town sprang up to service the agricultural country around. At some point in the 1920s the “osteria” was dropped. Apparently every now and then the locals try and come up with something more dignified, but they’ve never agreed on what, so it stays “bastardo”.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

LEARNING ITALIAN

Boh, mah, eh: Five strange noises Italians make and what they mean

Fancy vocab isn't the only way to impress your friends in Italy - these quirky interjections could actually be the key to sounding like a local.

Published: 2 May 2024 14:19 CEST
Boh, mah, eh: Five strange noises Italians make and what they mean

For most Italian-language learners, it’s a familiar scenario: you kick off your learning journey with textbooks and courses to familiarise yourself with all the tricky grammar and vocabulary, but as soon as you start talking to a native speaker, you hear words you’ve never come across before, as well as some slightly confusing noises.

These funny sounds, which are usually referred to as interjections by language experts, can be used to express anything from exhaustion to anger to surprise, or even to check whether the person you’re talking to is listening.

Whether your ultimate goal is to sound like a native or simply add some natural flair to your Italian, it’s worth getting familiar with the most popular interjections and trying to incorporate them in your everyday conversations.

Boh

If you live in Italy, chances are there are a few things that you find slightly puzzling about the country and for which you may have no immediate explanation. 

For instance, why are Italians always so late? Or why are they so obsessed with cleaning? 

Your answer to both of the above questions may be boh.

READ ALSO: Etto, ino, ello: How to make Italian words smaller

Boh is a common way to say ‘I don’t know’ in informal situations, with Italians often underlining their point by thrusting their chin forward and pulling down their lips.

Remember: boh doesn’t rhyme with ‘oh’ or ‘so’ in English; it sounds more like a ‘buh’. Hear the correct pronunciation here.  

Beh

One vowel can make all the difference in the world in Italian, so be careful not to confuse the above-mentioned boh with beh. 

Beh (pronunciation available here) is actually a short version of bene, which is the Italian equivalent of the English ‘well’ and can, in most cases, be translated as such.

For instance:

Beh, potrebbe andare peggio. Potrebbe piovere.

Well, it could be worse. It could be raining.

Beh, e’ molto piu’ veloce di quanto pensassi.

Well, he’s way quicker than I thought.

You’ll often find beh followed by senti (‘well, listen…’) or insomma (‘well, not really…’).

Eh

Eh might not be the most beautiful word in the Italian language, but it’s certainly one of the most versatile as it can be used to express a huge variety of emotions – from astonishment to irritation to regret – depending on the tone of voice you use.

Unlike the English ‘eh’, the Italian eh doesn’t rhyme with ‘may’: it’s a short vowel sound, like the one in ‘meh’ (hear its pronunciation here). 

As for how to translate it, eh can be anything from ‘yeah’ to ‘right’ to ‘what?’ .

M’ha chiuso la porta in faccia!

Eh?!

He shut the door in my face!

What?!

Lo conosci?

Eh, e quindi?

Do you know him?

Yeah, so what? 

You can also use it to ask questions, either because you expect someone to agree with you or because you haven’t heard what they said.

Bella giornata, eh?

Nice day, right?

Uffa

If you ever find yourself irritated or annoyed by something in Italy (and you probably will at some point), uffa is one of the best ways to express it in everyday speech.

It means the same as ‘ugh’ or ‘geez’ in English, and is pronounced ‘ooh-fah’, with a very strong emphasis on the ‘f’.

READ ALSO: ‘I’m not Onassis’: Seven things Italian dads say and what they mean

It is very informal, but it isn’t vulgar and you’ll hear people of all ages use it. 

Uffa, ho dimenticato di comprare il sapone.

Ugh, I forgot to buy the soap.

Mah

Mah (hear it pronounced here) is one of the most popular ways to express doubt or uncertainty about something that may or may not happen in the future. Think of it as a short version of chi lo sa? (‘who knows?’). 

Come pensi andra’ a finire?

Mah…Non ho una palla di cristallo purtroppo.

How do you think it will pan out?

Who knows…I don’t have a crystal ball unfortunately.

You can also use it to tease someone.

Mi stai preparando una sorpresa per l’anniversario di matrimonio?

Mah! Vedremo…

Are you preparing a surprise for our wedding anniversary?

Who knows! We’ll see…

Mah can sometimes be used interchangeably with boh, though boh is more commonly used with things that the speaker doesn’t know about but other people may, whereas mah generally applies to situations or outcomes that no one can possibly know about as they haven’t happened yet.

Do you have another favourite Italian interjection that’s not on this list? Let us know in the comments section below.

SHOW COMMENTS