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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
A group of friends chat on a pier in Sorrento, Campania.
A group of friends chat on a pier in Sorrento, Campania. Photo by Jan Foster on Unsplash

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.

Member comments

  1. Italians in Veneto often make a clicking sound with their tongue. This means “no’. And it can be very embarrassing until you learn it!

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OPINION

Are Italy’s many dialects dying out – or just evolving?

Italy's numerous local dialects are a source of pride, but the way they're used is changing dramatically, writes Silvia Marchetti.

Published: 23 May 2024 15:07 CEST
Are Italy's many dialects dying out - or just evolving?

The multitude of dialects in Italy shows the diversity and richness of our linguistic culture and traditions. However, in recent years there’s been a huge change in their use. 

It seems the use of dialect is dying out in many households. Figures from Istat, the Italian statistics bureau, have shown for years now that only around 14 percent of Italians still speak in dialect at home. 

IN MAPS: A brief introduction to Italy’s many local dialects

The boundaries between Italian and dialects are blurring. Unlike in the past, when they were a symbol of social status and people who spoke in dialect were looked down upon, now a new ‘middle language’ – neither Italian nor dialect – is emerging.

The upper-middle classes in particular, and professionals like doctors and lawyers, are dropping their accents to blend in and rise up the ladder. 

However, while dialects may be waning today, local authorities and private associations are pushing their use and recovery as a symbol of territorial identity and cultural belonging.

Dialect courses are booming all over Italy, with many regions allocating funds to saving local dialects. In Lazio, Emilia Romagna, and Friuli Venezia Giulia, just to name a few, resources are earmarked annually by regional councils for dialect lessons, while Sicily wants siculo to be taught in schools.

At local level, dozens of private cultural clubs are organizing evening classes and events in dialect, while famous folk singers now proudly sing in dialect, adapting iconic foreign hits.

In a village in deepest Puglia recently from an open window I heard a bizarre take on The Beatles’ Yesterday, which made me laugh out loud, written by Lecce-based musician Andrea Baccassino who has launched a dialect radio station. The deeper south you go, it seems the more locals try to preserve their native tongue. 

READ ALSO: Why are Italy’s disappearing dialects so important?

Despite the decline, many stereotypes survive around dialects. According to a recent survey some are still looked down upon – mostly the deep southern ones, tied to past waves of migration from Naples and Palermo to the more prosperous north.

But that is not the reason why they seem to be dying out. Rather, what is happening today is the result of a long-term trend which sees an inverse immigration occurring across Italy: southerners who move to the north to work are coming back home to the south, but they now speak Milanese or Piemontese, while northerners who went to the south, though they are fewer, have forgotten their original dialect. 

Once in Sicily I met an extended Sicilian family, half of it spoke Sicilian, the other half spoke Piedmontese, for their parents had migrated to Turin to work in the car industry in the 1950s.

Recently, during a trip to Bologna, I discovered that most staff employed in public offices and hospitals came from the south and spoke a hybrid between their own dialect and Bolognese. I recall one Sicilian nurse in particular speaking a funny Torinese-Siculo-Romano, as her husband came from Rome. 

The truth is, nobody nowadays in Italy is 100 percent from Naples, or 100 percent from Rome or Turin. People from the south have married people from the north and this has led to a picturesque combination of dialects, even if many people still nowadays tend to hide their origins out of habit. 

I think in future the boundaries between dialects will become even more blurred, and every Italian will be speaking a mix of every single known dialect, borrowing popular words here and there. Perhaps a word or two from Romanesco, and one from Siculo. That’s Italia. 

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