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Italian expression of the day: ‘Fare una figura da cioccolataio’

Giampietro Vianello
Giampietro Vianello - [email protected]
Italian expression of the day: ‘Fare una figura da cioccolataio’
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Everyone messes up every once in a while but, if you do so in Italy, be ready to get this peculiar idiom dished out to you.

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Spend enough time in Italy and you’ll no doubt come across the expression ‘Fare una figura da cioccolataio’. Truth be told, it's very likely that local friends or acquaintances will at some point in time make you the butt of this very amusing saying.

So, to prepare you for the inevitable moment when you're told you’ve made a ‘chocolatier's impression’, here’s a quick explanation of what that means.

Despite referring to the noble art of making chocolate, the actual meaning of figura da cioccolataio has little to do with the nut-brown treat (or the entire confectionery industry for that matter).

In fact, Italians use the expression to generally mock those who’ve made absolute fools of themselves or are responsible for embarrassing cock-ups.

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For instance: 

- Ero così in ansia che ho dovuto chiederle quale fosse il suo nome tre volte.
- Mi dispiace dirtelo ma hai fatto proprio una figura da cioccolataio.

- I was so anxious that I had to ask what her name was three times.
- I’m sorry to say it but you really made a fool of yourself.

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Or:

- Quando il cameriere mi ha augurato ‘buon pranzo’, gli ho risposto con ‘anche a te’. Che figura da cioccolataio…
- When the waiter said ‘Enjoy your meal’, I replied with ‘You too’. I’m such a twit…

Please keep in mind that locals will often react to whatever ridiculous or embarrassing situation you have been involved in simply with ‘che figura da cioccolataio’, wherein ‘che’ is merely used as a way to add emphasis to the statement, like so:

- Durante il viaggio in aereo, ho rovesciato il mio caffè sul passeggero seduto al mio fianco.
- Che figura da cioccolataio…

- During my flight, I spilled my coffee on the passenger sat right beside me.
- How embarrassing…

So, now that you have a basic grasp of how to use the idiom, you are ready to know where and when it originated. 

Contrary to what many people may think (including, I assure you, plenty of Italians born and bred), the phrase ‘fare una figura da cioccolataio’ has nothing to do with the very popular but much less gracious ‘fare una figura di m***a’, which is roughly translatable to ‘making a sh*t impression’.

While you’ll have no trouble understanding where the latter expression came from, the former originated from a rather curious anecdote which is said to have occurred in Turin – Italy’s ‘chocolate capital’ – at the start of the 19th century. Naturally, we have no way to verify said historical happenstance, but, in the interests of general knowledge and Italian folklore, we’ll take the liberty to relay it to you.

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In the early 1800s, members of Turin's bourgeoisie would mostly travel by means of carriages pulled by two horses. Only noble families and royals could afford to have their carriages pulled by four such animals. However, a very popular local chocolatier managed to amass so many riches that he was finally able to buy himself one of the most luxurious carriages in the city and have it pulled by four horses. 

As soon as the king, Charles Felix of Sardinia, got wind of the fact, he immediately summoned the chocolatier to court and demanded he go back to using a two-horse carriage. Why? Well, because a king couldn’t possibly run the risk of, in his words, ‘looking like a chocolatier’ (or, in Italian, ‘fare una figura da cioccolataio’).

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

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