Sometimes when I try try to read the Umbria newspaper invariable there are words I don't know,lot's of them, but what frustates me are the words which I can't find either in my dictionary or the on line dictionary.

For example: "tortorate" (something to do with being wrong?) ..."mister prezzi" in a discussion about vegatable prices. "foze"...

Thanks for any help
Art

Art, I had no clue about either Tortorate nor foze... I checked the Garzanti online dictionary and it says that tortorate is regional for "bastonate". Still no clue about the "foze" thing... are you sure that it's not a mistake? "forze" maybe....
See this article about "mister prezzi".
If these are your only doubts... your Italian is at least as good as mine!

Thanks Guilia. I think the foze was a mistake.

Those were just the words I couldn't find in the dictionary. So no no no my italian is nowhere near as good yours.

The mister prezzi was in this sentence.

,in cui arriva mister prezzi e la guardia di finanza prende a tortorate (salte sanzioni) chi non esponi i cartelli.

I think "mister prezzi" is a sopranome for the guardia finazia? Since mister prezzi was not in parenthesis or quotes I'm not sure.

I guess it would have helped if I had given you the entire sentence in the first place,well part of the sentence since Italian sentences tend to be quite long.

Actually I guess it gives the definition of tortorate.

Thanks
Art

"Mister prezzi" is a control authority - actually, more like an ombudsman than an agency - monitoring consumer prices. The idea is Swiss and even the phrase "mister prezzi" was first used in Italian Switzerland.

Thanks itarchivarius , we were told at lunch today by an Italian freind that there is an actual person in Rome who monitors prices for gouging who is called "mister prezzi".

Art

I guess I'm going to hve to stop trying to read the the Umbrian paper I keep finding words that are not in my dictionary or in the on-line dictionary. Anyone know..cestista or reità?
Thanks.

Art

Cestista is a basketball player (after cesto=basket )
Reità means culpability or guilt
Neither is a very common word....
Did you ever try the Hoepli online dictionary? You have to register but it's really really the best! (both words can be found there).

Thanks Giulia I'll register. The cestista was in the article about the Perugia murders? "Le dichiarazioni di ieri dell ex cestista sono insomma una chiamata di reità, per certi versi,annunciata." I assume Rudy Guede was an ex cestista.


Art