Italian Sayings: Group 3

The theme for today's proverbs is CANI, dogs. (And yes, I did Polish dog proverbs too!)

Here are the proverbs:

A cattivo cane, corto legame.
For a bad dog, a short leash.
Notes: Compare the English idiom "to keep someone on a short leash." In this proverb, that "someone" is a bad dog. I like the sound-play here: cattivo-cane-corto.

Cattivo bastone non fa buon cane.
A bad stick doesn't make a good dog.
Notes: I really like this proverb! Negative reinforcement does not work; people and other animals all improve from positive reinforcement, not negative. See Amy Sutherland's book What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers.

Cane vecchio non abbaia invano.
The old dog does not bark in vain.
Notes: In other words, when an old dog, who is wise and experienced, barks, you should pay attention.

Non svegliar il can che dorme.
Don't wake the dog who sleeps.
Notes: Compare the English saying "Let sleeping dogs lie." In poetic language and in proverbs, you can find the form can for cane. There are many variations on this saying: Non stuzzicare il can che dorme, Non destare il can che dorme, etc.

Chi dorme coi cani si risveglia colle pulci.
He who sleeps with dogs wakes up with fleas.
Notes: This is literally true, and it applies metaphorically to any kind of company you keep: you will pick things up (not always good things!) from the people you associate with.

Lava cane, pettina cane, sempre di cane puzza.
Wash the dog, comb the dog, the dog always smells like a dog.
Notes: This is something like how a leopard cannot change its spots, but about smell instead of spots.

Muove la coda il cane non per te, ma per il pane.
The dog wags his tail not for you but for the bread.
Notes: This one rhymes: cane-pane.

Non c'è carne in macelleria che cane o gatto non porti via.
There is no meat in the butcher shop that a dog or a cat won't carry off.
Notes: This is a rhyming proverb too: macelleria-via.

Il cane scottato dall'acqua calda teme anche quella fredda.
The dog scalded by hot water fears cold water too.
Notes: Sometimes this proverb is told about dogs, sometimes about cats (for example, Il gatto che si è bruciato, ha paura anche dell'acqua fredda), but the meaning is the same in either case. Compare the English saying, "Once bitten, twice shy."

Due cani che un solo osso hanno, difficilmente in pace stanno.
Two dogs who have but one bone find it hard to keep the peace.
Notes: This is another rhyming proverb: hanno-stanno.

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated):



Plus a LOLcat:

Italian Sayings: Group 2

The theme for today's proverbs is GATTI... cats! If you are curious, I also did some Polish proverbs about cats.

Here are the Italian proverbs:

Quando il gatto dorme, i topi ballano.
When the cat's asleep, the mice dance.
Notes: Compare the English saying, "When the cat's away, the mice play." Italian has just one word for both mouse and rat: topo. Mickey Mouse is Topolino! Italian topo is originally from Latin talpa, "mole." From the same root as Italian ballare we get English "ballet."

Al buio, tutti i gatti sono bigi.
In the dark all cats are grey.
Notes: The idea is that, under certain conditions, differences that seemed important simply vanish. Compare the English saying, "All cats are grey in the dark." Sometimes this is given a sexual twist by making the cats female, Al buio tutte le gatte sono bigie, the idea being that whether a woman is beautiful or ugly doesn't matter once the lights are out. Italian bigio is related to English "beige."

Un gatto può ben guardare un re.
A cat can well look at a king.
Notes: Compare the English saying, "A cat may look at a king." The idea is that even someone lowly has the right to look at the king, i.e. you can't stop anyone from just looking at something. In Spanish, it's a dog instead: Un perro puede mirar al rey.

Prima lusingare, e poi graffiare, è arte dei gatti.
First flatter and then scratch is the art of cats.
Notes: Anyone who has a cat knows that cats do sometimes unaccountably give you a bite or a scratch for no reason at all. And yes, Italian graffiare comes from the same root as graffiti. It's like the cat is a graffiti artist, with our skin as canvas!

Meglio essere capo di gatto che coda di leone.
Better to be the head of a cat than the tail of lion.
Notes: Compare the Biblical saying, "A living dog is better than a dead lion."

Cavar le castagne dal fuoco colla zampa del gatto.
To take chestnuts from the far with the cat's paw.
Notes: We use the phrase "cat's paw" in English too, and that phrase, like this Italian proverb, comes from the story of the monkey who tricked the cat into getting the chestnuts out of the fire, with the result that the monkey got the chestnuts while the cat got only a burnt paw.

Il gatto, scottato dall'acqua calda, teme anche quella fredda.
The cat scalded by hot water also fears water that is cold.
Notes: Compare the English saying, "Scalded cats fear even cold water." Italian scottato is s-cottato; the poor cat has basically been cooked, cottato, by the hot water.

Quando il gatto non può arrivare al lardo, dice che è rancido.
When the cat can't reach the lard, he says it's rancid.
Notes: This is like the famous fable of the fox and the grapes, but this time with a cat and lard: sour grapes! rancid fat!

Se i gatti sapessero volare, le beccacce sarebbero rare.
If cats could fly, the woodcocks would be rare.
Notes: Note the rhyme in Italian: volare-rare. To make an English rhyme, we could say, "If cats could fly, there'd be fewer birds in the sky." You may not have heard of a woodcock bird before, but you have probably heard of "cocker spaniels," a breed of dog that got its name from hunting woodcocks. I love these contrary-to-fact conditionals in Latin, so I'll be sure to make a collection of "Se... sarebbe..." proverbs later on.

Quando il gatto lecca il pelo, viene acqua, giù dal cielo.
When the cat licks its fur, rain's going to pour from the sky.
Notes: There are all kinds of proverbs that express superstitions. Like the previous proverb, this one rhymes: pelo-cielo. To make it rhyme in English, we could maybe say: "When the cat licks its skin, rain is sure to begin," or something like that.

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated):



Plus a LOLcat:

Italian Sayings: Group 1

The theme for today's proverbs is the lovely Italian gerund: gerundio! Each of the proverbs below features a gerund: vivendo, "living," domandano, "asking" and so on.

Here are the proverbs:

Vivendo, s'impara.
One learns by living.
Notes: The English "one learns" impersonal always sounds so clunky compared to the Italian s'impara. Compare the English saying, "Live and learn."

Domandando, si va a Roma.
By asking questions, you can get to Rome.
Notes: Literally, you need to ask questions in order to make a long journey; metaphorically, you need to ask questions to accomplish any great accomplishment. I like the way that "Rome" here stands both for a destination and also for a great accomplishment. So, you people who are shy to ask questions or ask for help: don't be shy! That's how you get to Rome, or anywhere else.

Domandando, si va per tutto.
By asking questions, you can get anywhere.
Notes: This is a nice variation on the preceding saying. The phrase per tutto, "everywhere," is equivalent to the more commonly used dappertutto.

Burlando, si dice il vero.
By joking, one can speak the truth.
Notes: From Italian burla, joke, we get English "burlesque."

Non desiderando nulla, si possiede tutto.
By desiring nothing, one has everything.
Notes: Enjoy the Italian double negative: "by not desiring nothing." It's so emphatic! Double negatives are definitely allowed in Italian, unlike (formal) English.

È lavorando nella fucina, che si diventa fabbro.
It is by working in the forge that one becomes a blacksmith.
Notes: You could also state this more directly: Lavorando nella fucina, si diventa fabbro. The implication is that you gain your skills and learn your work not by reading books, not by going to school, but by doing the work, which means you need to go to the place where the work is done.

Insistendo sul lavoro, sotto il piombo, trovi l’oro.
By persisting in your work, beneath the lead you find gold.
Notes: Yes, English "plumber" is related to Italian piombo; they are both from Latin plumbum. The key is that you have to keep going to find the gold (i.e. reach your goal) by getting through all that lead (i.e. the tedious work that might be involved in the process).

Rimanendo uniti, stiamo in piedi; dividendoci, cadiamo.
By remaining united, we stand; by being divided, we fall.
Notes: Literally, "we are on our feet," stiamo in piedi.

L’allegria prolunga la vita, medicando qualunque ferita.
Happiness prolongs life, healing any wound.
Notes: A rhyming proverb! la vita ~ ferita.

Forte non è chi non piange mai, ma chi piangendo riesce a sfogarsi.
It is not he who never weeps who is strong but he who by weeping manages to find relief.
Notes: In more modern English slang, sfogarsi is "to vent." It can also have negative connotations, like "exploding" at somebody in an "outburst" of emotion, but here it is a positive thing, like getting something off your chest, letting your feelings out.

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated):



Plus a LOLcat: