Hopefully this phrase is not too saucy for this forum but it the States it is really no big deal even though I think the original meaning of it is pretty dirty.
I was watching an American television show today and the Italian character said something like "Il mio amico" that got part I "my friend".
But he said sounded like "mucha cammey" I have used the English phonetics because I'm not sure how to write the ch sound in Italian.
Anyway the character said it meant "Bite me". But "you bite" is morde or mordi.
Not that I would want to use this phrase for my travels but it would be fun to use with my non Italian speaking friends.
Posts: 558 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. | Registered: 16 December 2005
A, but possibly not THE, spelling of your phonetic phrase would be mucciaca me. I haven't a clue what it might mean and really advise you not to say it. Slangy terms are perilous and can end up biting you. pun alert I don't suppose it matters what italian or pseudo-italian things you say to non-italian speaking friends, but you don't want to slip and seem irredeemably vulgar among Italians, right? I live in Italian and talk about everything in Italian and I do use expressions whose meaning is somewhat different from what the words imply, but I avoid slangy and swearing completely because it is almost impossible to be sure that they aren't really filthy to some ears. It is very difficult to know which ears will be offended. Even after 33 years of speaking the language to one degree or the other, I am not certain I won't slip and make a mistake. As a matter of fact, I have slipped by saying exact translations from English which were not scatalogical in English, but had a wholly different implication in Italian. i.e., don't ever say you are soaked but say you are soaked with sweat.
In a Roman film, thus Roman "dialect", it might sound like "mozzicame" (sorry I'm very bad at English phonetics but I'm sure that someone will help with that". In Italian it would have been "mordimi" (accent on the O.
Originally posted by decobabe: A, but possibly not THE, spelling of your phonetic phrase would be mucciaca me. I haven't a clue what it might mean and really advise you not to say it. Slangy terms are perilous and can end up biting you. pun alert I don't suppose it matters what italian or pseudo-italian things you say to non-italian speaking friends, but you don't want to slip and seem irredeemably vulgar among Italians, right? I live in Italian and talk about everything in Italian and I do use expressions whose meaning is somewhat different from what the words imply, but I avoid slangy and swearing completely because it is almost impossible to be sure that they aren't really filthy to some ears. It is very difficult to know which ears will be offended. Even after 33 years of speaking the language to one degree or the other, I am not certain I won't slip and make a mistake. As a matter of fact, I have slipped by saying exact translations from English which were not scatalogical in English, but had a wholly different implication in Italian. i.e., don't ever say you are soaked but say you are soaked with sweat.
I would never use a phrase to someone where I didn't know the meaning. What I am worried about is thinking I am saying one legitimate thing but really saying an insult of some sort.
Posts: 558 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. | Registered: 16 December 2005
Originally posted by Giulia da Urbino: In a Roman film, thus Roman "dialect", it might sound like "mozzicame" (sorry I'm very bad at English phonetics but I'm sure that someone will help with that". In Italian it would have been "mordimi" (accent on the O.
Thank you. This really was more of an exercise in understanding the spoken word. It actually took me a while just to understand that he has saying "My friend" at the beginning of the phrase. Thank goodness for Tivo.
I guess part of my problem (and I am sure others trying to learn Italian) is how words can run together. I did not realize that "mordimi" can actually be one word as opposed to two sperate words.
Posts: 558 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. | Registered: 16 December 2005
Originally posted by Giulia da Urbino: spinnaker, imperative + pronoun goes together: fallo (fai+lo) dillo (di + lo) andiamoci (andiamo+ci) guardami (guarda + mi) andiamocene (andiamo + ci + ne) etc etc
Yes I remember now, thank you. Plus I guess I did not realize how many pronouns get hooked on. It can make thinks a little complicated but I guess we have similar language problems in English.
Posts: 558 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. | Registered: 16 December 2005
What the person said was mozzicami, with the accent on the o. This is the familiar imperative of the verb mozzicare - to bite. he may have said mozzicame, which is a dialect form, using me instead of the correct mi. Mozzicare is used more in colloquial italian. It derives from mozzare to cut off
Originally posted by s tenen: but, I almost never hear anyone speak curses in public, worse than "diavolo" - not even really mild curses! I know this will change and is changing.
Try hanging out with a bunch of scuola elementare kids at summer camp! I was an English teacher in July and all I heard during card games were, "ciucciatele" (basically, "suck it".... the cards, that is... but in a very vulgar way), and then of course the ever popular, "vafanculo", and the like.
This new generation is sure to have a mouth on them, alright.
Originally posted by s tenen: but, I almost never hear anyone speak curses in public, worse than "diavolo" - not even really mild curses! I know this will change and is changing.
Not really -- even back in the '70s, all the great curse words were the first things we learned And down in Sicily, I heard things in public from the Sicilians that made even me go even though our main clientele were american sailors and you *know* how those mouths are
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