Italian Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Italian language. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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arancini n.pl. The name literally translates as “little orange,” which is what they resemble when cooked, but there is nothing fruity about them. Arancini are widely served street food in Italy, and every nonna there has her own variation on this theme. Arancini are little risotto balls stuffed with all kinds of fillings and fried to golden perfection. [ Language Italian Subject Food & Drink] [full cite] (Jan. 1, 2006)

chumbolone n. “I gave him lip service,” Doyle said. “I didn’t know what he was talking about. I don’t wanna look like a chumbolone, an idiot, stupid,” Doyle said from the witness stand. There is a tasty Sicilian Easter cake called ciambellone, but Twan doesn’t look like a tasty Easter cake. [English Italian Crime & Prisons Slang] [full cite] (Aug. 24, 2007)

ciao n. “All those who have chosen public safety as a career, corrections officers and police officers, your byword is “ciao,”” said the Rev. John S. Schiavone, adding the word is slang for “I am your servant.”…Gonzalez was remembered during eulogies…for beginning and ending every conversation with the word “ciao.” [Italian] [full cite] (Jan. 19, 2005)

cittaslow n. Residents of Goolwa, Hindmarsh Island and Currency Creek are being invited to decide whether Goolwa will become Australia’s first official “slow town.” Goolwa has been proposed as a Cittaslow. Pronounced Chit-a-slow, it is an Italian word meaning slow town and is based on the concept of “slow food,” where communities are encouraged to identify and preserve local produce and traditions and to make time to sit down with family and friends to enjoy local cooking in a convivial atmosphere. [English-derived Italian] [full cite] (Jul. 15, 2005)

fantasista n. Italy’s football jargon has a special term: “fantasista,” to sum up the qualities of players like Francesco Totti. It takes lots of inventiveness and class to be classified a fantasista—a player who can stun the opponents with a defence-splitting pass, an exquisite lob, or a sublime piece of skill. [Italian Italy Sports & Recreation] [full cite] (Jun. 1, 2004)

goumada n. After the first couple of times I heard the term “goumada” used on the HBO Mafia show “The Sopranos” several years ago, I almost immediately started hearing it all the time at the Statehouse. Folks in that building had been gossiping about who is zooming whom around there from time immemorial, but now they had a new word for it, one with exotic mob overtones, no less. It was an instant hit: “Did’ya hear So-and-so got his goumada a job in Whatshisname’s office?” [ Language Italian] [full cite] (Nov. 15, 2005)

gumba n. Gumba—an Italian. [Italian] [full cite] (May. 13, 2005)

incalmo n. Koch’s vases incorporate a technique called “incalmo,” meaning to fuse two colored halves of glass together while hot. [Italian Arts & Literature] [full cite] (Apr. 28, 2006)

labbrosaur n. A mischievous journalist, Roberto D’Agostino, coined the word labbrosaur to describe the bee-stung lip look that has blossomed up and down the country. The word Labbra means lip in Italian. [Italian Italy Apparel, Appearance, & Fashion Health] [full cite] (Dec. 18, 2004)

libero n. One of the additions was the libero. It’s an Italian word meaning “free”…can come in at any time in the back row without counting against the team’s substitution limit. [Italian Sports & Recreation] [full cite] (Dec. 16, 2004)

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