Italian word of the day: ‘Ciofeca’
We hope you'll be able to stomach today's word.
Who hasn’t at least once experienced the feeling of utter disappointment that comes with opening a drink at the end of a hard day at work and finding it absolutely undrinkable?
Though the English language has no shortage of nouns for undrinkable drinks (swill, slop, bilge water, etc.), Italians also have a number of words suited to this sort of occasion.
While schifezza (crap) and porcheria (filth) are valuable options, today's word, ciofeca (pronunciation available here) is the more specific word you might want to use in this drink-related scenario.
Ciofeca is generally used for any drink which tastes disappointingly, irredeemably bad, especially bad coffee and bad wine.
Perché stai facendo quella faccia?
‘Sto caffè è una ciofeca...
Why are you making that face?
This coffee is swill…
Non ci tornerò mai in quel posto. Il vino che abbiamo preso l’ultima volta era una ciofeca.
I’m not going back to that place. The wine we got last time was hogwash.
As for the word’s etymology, scholars have hypothesised that ciofeca might derive from the Arabic word 'šafaq’, which means ‘bad drink’, or from the Spanish ‘chufa’, the type of almond used to make syrup.
What’s certain is that the Italian version of the word first appeared in Naples and then spread to the rest of the peninsula over time.
It’s also widely believed that the ‘nationalisation’ of the noun happened largely thanks to legendary comedian Totò, who used the word ciofeca in his sketches and movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nriH9JvuVo&ab_channel=Tot%C3%B2atavola
Nowadays, the word is used all over Italy and, in some instances, its scope has been extended to indicate anything of poor quality, not just drinks.
In these cases, ‘ciofeca’ might be translated into English as ‘rubbish’ or ‘garbage’.
Mi hanno regalato un aspirapolvere senza filo per il mio compleanno.
Ah, com’è?
E’ una ciofeca…
They got me a cordless vacuum cleaner for my birthday.
Oh, how is it?
It’s rubbish…
Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.
Comments
See Also
Who hasn’t at least once experienced the feeling of utter disappointment that comes with opening a drink at the end of a hard day at work and finding it absolutely undrinkable?
Though the English language has no shortage of nouns for undrinkable drinks (swill, slop, bilge water, etc.), Italians also have a number of words suited to this sort of occasion.
While schifezza (crap) and porcheria (filth) are valuable options, today's word, ciofeca (pronunciation available here) is the more specific word you might want to use in this drink-related scenario.
Ciofeca is generally used for any drink which tastes disappointingly, irredeemably bad, especially bad coffee and bad wine.
Perché stai facendo quella faccia?
‘Sto caffè è una ciofeca...
Why are you making that face?
This coffee is swill…
Non ci tornerò mai in quel posto. Il vino che abbiamo preso l’ultima volta era una ciofeca.
I’m not going back to that place. The wine we got last time was hogwash.
As for the word’s etymology, scholars have hypothesised that ciofeca might derive from the Arabic word 'šafaq’, which means ‘bad drink’, or from the Spanish ‘chufa’, the type of almond used to make syrup.
What’s certain is that the Italian version of the word first appeared in Naples and then spread to the rest of the peninsula over time.
It’s also widely believed that the ‘nationalisation’ of the noun happened largely thanks to legendary comedian Totò, who used the word ciofeca in his sketches and movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nriH9JvuVo&ab_channel=Tot%C3%B2atavola
Nowadays, the word is used all over Italy and, in some instances, its scope has been extended to indicate anything of poor quality, not just drinks.
In these cases, ‘ciofeca’ might be translated into English as ‘rubbish’ or ‘garbage’.
Mi hanno regalato un aspirapolvere senza filo per il mio compleanno.
Ah, com’è?
E’ una ciofeca…
They got me a cordless vacuum cleaner for my birthday.
Oh, how is it?
It’s rubbish…
Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.