#roman dialect

[deliriumofendless]

Hiii...so I just saw the question about the difference between italian and roman dialect. Well, it's pretty complicated, but in italy each region basically has its own dialect. Normally each dialect has its own words, lingo and a different way of talking (like, every dialect sounds "musically" very different). Basically every dialect is a proper language and if two italians would speak their own dialect from different regions chances are we wouldn't understand each other. Roman is a bit peculiar because it's not exactly a "different language" because it's italian pronounced with "roman cadence"/accent but of course there's slang and typical expressions that only Romans use...it's very unique and instantly recognizable by italians and I think that maybe Victoria has the most noticeable (but also Damiano and Thomas, only Ethan has a much lighter accent).

Sorry in advance if I made any grammar mistakes, I wrote this quickly🙈

thank you! this is a great explanation of it and i appreciate you taking the time to kinda inform me and anyone else who was wondering<3

[regina-del-cielo]

Ok, now I wanna know what the sta mano po esse fero o po... thing means that I just read in your tags :D Please tell me!!

Hi Anon! :D

" 'Sta mano po' esse fero o po' esse piuma" is part of a line from the movie Bianco Rosso e Verdone, a staple of Italian (specifically Roman) comedy cinema of the 1980s. It's in romanesco, the dialect spoken in Rome, and literally translates to "this hand can be iron or can be a feather". Basically it means that the hand can be gentle or violent, according to circumstances. (you can hear it spoken on the video I linked, from 0:48 to the end)

Since the whole line ends with "oggi è stata piuma" ("today it was a feather"), the line can also be used as a vague threat - today I've been gentle, tomorrow... you could get the iron! ;)

Personally I think it fits Nicolò’s character very well - he’s an Extremely Competent Killer, but he’s also a Soft Boi. His hands are capable of incredible gentleness and also incredible violence. The Duality of Man, indeed!

[giotanner]

The thing™ is Luca Marinelli is Italian but sometimes with a Roman accent-dialect (Rome, Italian capital) 'cause he's born in Rome so basically you have to forget the STEREOTYPED Italian language of american movies (this is Sicilian-ish dialect, it's me mario, godfather theme) and

I WELCOME YOU:

Italian Luca Marinelli

Roman dialect (slang Italian) Luca Marinelli

[sayitaliano]

Ciao! I was wondering if it's common in Roman dialect to pronounce 'l' as 'r'? Like in caLcio or coLtello? It sounds like people from Rome are saying 'r', or am I not hearing it well? Grazie.

Ciao! I heard that too occasionally (depends on the word tbh), but as I’m not from Rome I’m afraid I might tell you something wrong on how it works. Let’s ask to the dear @sciogli-lingua : puoi rispondere tu a questo anon (e anche a me ahah)? Grazie! :) 

[giotanner]

Random question re italian. I’ve been told that the stereotypical “italian” accent that we usually hear in media is an exaggerated sicilian accent. If so, what is nicky’s accent in tog? Is it roman, since luca is? What’s luca’s? What’s the “official” “italian” accent? Roman (since rome is the capital)? I’m curious since i also come from a country with hundreds of dialects that are basically whole other languages, but there is an “official” language that is essentially a copy of one dialect. :)

Hi anon and thank you for the ask ♥

Basically we have an official language, the italian language has ‘no dialect’ even if every italian puts at least ‘a bit’ of accent of their region/city.

Example: 

Yup it’s really a stereotype the italian in american movies usually with “Mario bros-ish and Neapolitan- Sicilian slang/accent”.

Luca usually has a perfect italian diction, so uhm in The Old Guard you don’t heard ‘roman accent’ (neither roman words). But in other movies yes, so much. And in italian interviews sometimes escapes him some words in roman dialect.

Luca’s roman dialect (I am from Rome, so basically what you can really listen at first impression it’s, I think, the way we say the “R”. We use with much power (but also so many verbs and words are DIFFERENT from italian language): 

Alessandro Borghi, Luca’s friend, he’s roman and his roman dialect you can heard even in the interviews hahah.

[giotanner]

I'm thinking, for example, at Corrado Guzzanti who is a comical genius IMO or Zerocalcare. And I absolutely LOVE your language and accent and your typical expressions such as "nun t'accollà" or "sticazzi" XD You have the funniest expressions! (And I don't remember where I read it but basically Romanesco is a variant of Fiorentino that was brought by the Papal Court, is that true?) Anyway, I love it and it sounds really amazing! <3

Yes, during Renaissance 💞 what makes me laugh for example is "sticazzi". Because in Rome/Lazio region that means a negative thing "I don't care what you say". But in other parts of Italy is like "wooo, fantastic! Marvelous thing you did!" Boooi

Zerocalcare 💗💓💕💖💞

[giotanner]

Ciao! Scusa il disturbo, ma stavo cercando un video di Fabrizio che non trovo più e magari tu o altri potete aiutarmi a ritrovarlo. Era una specie di dietro le quinte, forse caricavano strumenti in un furgone (?) e lui invitava i suoi amici/compagni di band/staff a parlare in italiano e non in dialetto...mi ricordo bene un "non dite lèvate, si dice togliti". Grazie in anticipo! :*

Ciao anon, eccolo qui! (Ringrazio una ragazza di Facebook che mi ha aiutato ♡ avevamo capito tutti quale era ahaha ormai conosciamo i video a memoria)

[sciogli-lingua]

Things Roman Teens Say - a vocabulary post (part 2)

By popular demand, the follow-up to this post!

*** WARNING: Reaaally informal (and sometimes vulgar) language. This is NOT standard Italian, and not all of these will be understood outside of Rome. ***

accollarsi -- lit. to take something upon yourself, here used as to be clingy/controlling. "Mia madre si accolla troppo: vuole sempre sapere quello che faccio!" ("My mom won't leave me alone: she always wants to know what I'm doing!")

(un) accollo -- a clingy person or an unpleasant task.

beccarsi -- to meet up. "Allora, quando ci becchiamo per un caffè?" ("So, when shall we meet up for a coffee?") "Se beccamo dopo!" [extremely colloquial] ("See you later!")

(una) calla -- a lie. "Me sta' a di' 'na calla..." ("They're lying to me...")

darsi -- lit. to give oneself; here used as to leave. "Mi sono data dopo cinque minuti." ("I left after five minutes.")

flashare/flasharsi -- to imagine something that turns out to be untrue. "Ho flashato/mi sono flashato tuo fratello ieri." ("I thought I saw your brother yesterday.")

greve -- lit. heavy or crude, here used more or less as serious (usually in a negative or surprising way). "È successa una cosa davvero greve!" ("Something serious happened!") "Non si parlano da due anni." "Greve!" ("They haven't spoken to each other in three years." "Jeez!")

imboccare/imboccarsi -- lit. to spoon-feed, here used as to crash [a party, at somebody's place]. "Imbocchiamo tutti alla festa domani!" ("Let's all crash the party tomorrow!")

pezza -- lit. rag/patch, here used to express disappointment. "Uffa, hanno annullato il concerto." "(Che) pezza!" ("Ugh, the concert got canceled." "That sucks!")

(fare) rate -- to suck, to be shit. "Questa canzone fa rate!" ("This song sucks!")

scagliare / scajare -- lit. to throw, to hurl; here used as to fail an exam, or to perform very badly. "Ho scajato l'esame di patente..." ("I failed my driving test...")

sgravare -- lit. to unburden, to relieve; here used as to go too far. "Stavolta ha davvero sgravato!" ("This time they really went too far!")

sgravato -- exceptional, exceedingly cool, awesome. "Il concerto era proprio sgravato!" ("The concert was awesome!")