Italian words that have become part of the English language
Whether are aware of it or not, we use a host of Italian words everyday. Of course, for many people it is food types such as spaghetti and tagliatelle that spring immediately to mind, but pasta aside there are many Italian words that have become part of the lexicon.
We have also taken the Italian for certain food types rather than create an Anglo-equivalent such as broccoli or, as used mainly in the US, zucchini (courgettes).
Along with food, Italian is also responsible for the host of musical terms that people use such as adagio (from the Italian ‘ad agio’ meaning ‘at ease) and serenade (from the Italian ‘serenata’), not to mention words such as piano,
concert and opera.
Most of the Italian words that we use everyday have evolved from a similar word of the same meaning. The word ‘bandit’ for example, comes from the Italian word ‘bandito’ and has, over time, been shortened into its Anglo counterpart. This is also the same for words such as ‘attaccare’ (attack), ‘attitudine’ (attitude) and ‘bizzaro’ (bizarre).
However apart from words that are derived from Italian equivalents, the English language has also absorbed words in their original context such as ‘ciao’ (‘goodbye’), fresco and piazza.
Today, however we seem to be surrounded by more Italian words then ever. With more and more coffee houses springing up around the world, the words cappuccino and espresso are well known to everyone.
And I haven’t even mentioned the word paparazzi, which is quite common in the English language these days, but actually comes from the 1960 Fellini film, La Dolce Vita.
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