Sunday, December 11, 2016

Odd words in Italian - Welcome to my palace!


Today I made a mistake when learning Italian. I read in Duolingo:
Io vivo in quel palazzo.

I thought it meant: I live in that palace.

No, it's just building!

Was that wishful thinking on my part, the speaker being ironic, or his having delusions of grandeur?

Italian - English
palazzo - building

English - Italian
building - palazzo

However, when I go into translate, I get the following result:

English - Italian
building - costruzione (like construction)

It seems that according to the Duolingo key, according to the context, palazzo can mean a building, a palace, or a black for flats.

So how would you say, "That's not just a building, it's a palace!"

Story
You have to be so careful in foreign languages. I was with a group of journalists in France being shows around the palaces of the Loire region. The owner showed us the front of the building. Then he said proudly, "Now you have seen my lovely front side, I must show you my beautiful backside."

I had hysterics. Every time he asked me why I was laughing I tried to explain and started laughing agin. Eventually I tapped my waist at the side with the back of the palm of my hand and said, 'This is the back. The difference between back and backside in British English was still was not clear. I said, "Ici - here, le dos - the back; lower, plus bas, is 'the backside'."

Tip
Translate in both directions. So many words sound alike but are not the same. In Italian macchina is not a machine but a car. But another word for car is automobile. Scarpe is shoes;Starts with s but also has a p. Think of the p in slippers. (Not scarves!) P as in slippers - scarpe.

Author
Agnela Lansbury
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