False friends: recovery

The English word recovery does sound like the Italian word “ricovero” but it’s actually something quite different. If you wish someone a “speedy recovery” you’re not hoping that they’ll be quickly admitted into hospital, but that they’ll soon feel better and return to a state of good health. So it is connected with health, and could be translated as “guarigione”. It can be used not only for people but also for ecosystems such as burnt forests, or even for economic situations, in which case it would be “ripresa” or “recupero”.

Foto di Christian Bass su Unsplash

False friends: pavement

The English word pavement sounds like “pavimento”, which is generally translated as “floor”. A pavement is a kind of outdoor floor paved with tiles or cement, or in Italy even with marble, and it’s often between the road and the buildings in a town or city. It’s also called a footpath, and in fact in Italian it’s generally translated as “marciapiede”. A pavement is often wider than a footpath though, and on it you can find the tables, chairs and umbrellas of a café, which in Italy is called a “bar” even if it’s primary function is providing coffee.

Foto di Gordon Chaffin su Unsplash

False friends: toast and marmalade

Today we have two false friends because they’re often found together. The English word marmalade sounds very similar to the Italian “marmellata”, but it actually refers only to jam made out of citrus fruits: oranges, lemons, grapefruit, cumquats, etc. “Marmellata” made out of other fruit is called jam, or jelly if all the solid parts of the fruit have been strained out. Jam, jelly and marmalade are generally eaten on toast, which is not what Italians call “toast”, but what they call “pane tostato”, usually with butter as well. If you find “toast” on a menu in Italy it generally means a toasted sandwich with ham and cheese inside, which wouldn’t taste very good with marmalade.

Foto di Calum Lewis su Unsplash

False friends: vacancy

It would be reasonable to think that the English word vacancy has something to do with the Italian word “vacanza”, especially when you see it on a hotel sign. But in fact it’s connected with the Italian word “vacante”, so if you see a hotel sign that says “No vacancy” it means there are no rooms available there. The other context in which you’ll see it is in the job-seeking world - a job vacancy is an opportunity to apply for a job. So if your vacation (or holiday) consists of a road trip and you haven’t booked your accommodation in advance, you hope to find the sign “Vacancy” when you arrive at a hotel or motel.

Foto di KEEM IBARRA su Unsplash

False friends: baby

Today’s false friend is baby. Babies are “bambini” but not all “bambini” are babies, only the very little ones that can’t walk yet. The slightly bigger ones that are starting to walk are called toddlers, because to “toddle” is to walk with short uncertain steps as little children do who are learning to walk. So if we want to talk about “bambini” in general we use the word children, or more colloquially kids. However, not all children are “bambini”, because if you talk about your “figli” they continue to be your children even after they’ve grown up and become adults. This applies only to the plural form though - a child is always a minor and if you want to talk about your offspring in the singular you refer to your son or your daughter. If you say “my sons” people will understand that you have only male children and no daughters. By the way, the original meaning of kids is “capretti”, probably because baby goats are playful and mischievous just as children are.

Foto di Filip Mroz su Unsplash

False friends: mansion

The English word “mansion” might seem to have something to do with the world of work, like the Italian word “mansione” that refers to the tasks or duties of your job. But it actually means a very large, imposing house, often in the country and with extensive grounds and gardens. This kind of grand, rich house can also be called a villa, because strangely in this case it isn’t a false friend and has the same meaning in Italian.

Foto di Nick Romanov su Unsplash

False Friends: actually

We made it to Friday, which means it’s time for our false friend of the week. This week’s word is actually. It does not mean attualmente, but in realtà, which is why the title of the film “Love actually” is “L’amore davvero” and not “L’amore in questo momento”. If you want to say attualmente in English you can use currently in more formal or business settings, or at the moment if you’re just having a normal conversation. You can use in this moment if you want to be very precise, for example “In this moment we are flying over the Taj Mahal”. But actually, we often use actually in casual conversations, to point something out or to contradict someone without actually appearing to.

False Friends: annoying

Welcome to the new weekly segment of the blog! Everyone knows that there are some English words that sound reassuringly similar to Italian words but have a different meaning, sometimes leading to embarrassing misunderstandings. As English and Italian have roots in common, these words probably started out with the same or similar meanings but evolved over time as they moved from one place to another, as all languages tend to do. Today’s word is “annoying”. This does not mean “noioso” as you might think, but “irritante”. It is annoying if your boss schedules a boring meeting at 5 pm on a Friday, when you just want to go home and start your weekend.