The essential vocabulary you'll need for an Italian summer
If you're spending your summer in Italy, you'll want to familiarise yourself with some key words and phrases. From sand and sunloungers to summer hits, we've got you covered.
School's officially out in Italy, and the countdown is on till everyone else can put on their Out of Office or hang up their work gear and head to the beach.
Or perhaps you've decided to take your holiday a little early this year to beat the crowds, and are already sipping on a spritz by a quiet poolside, congratulating yourself on your timing.
Either way, if you're spending the summer in Italy, there's some indispensable vocabulary you'll want to make sure you add to your repertoire. Let's get started.
Fa caldo!
One of the first things you'll want to do when it starts to get hot in Italy is comment on the situation - as a conversation starter, or simply in the course of muttering to yourself - and for that you'll need the phrase fa caldo.
It means 'it's hot', but as fa is from fare, meaning 'to make', it literally translates as 'it (the weather) makes hot'.
READ ALSO: Fried eggs and sweaty underpants: 10 phrases for complaining about the heat like an Italian
If you find yourself getting confused by how much caldo sounds like 'cold', just think of a boiling cauldron - the words have the same root.
Afa
The reason why Italian summers feel so hot isn't just because of the high temperatures, but the off-the-charts humidity.
There's a word for that stifling, oppressive, muggy heat: afa. There's not really a direct translation in English, perhaps because this kind of weather doesn't exist in most of the places where anglophones tend to live.
If you're around in Italy during a heatwave, you'll want the word canicola. It comes from Latin, referring to the 'dog days of summer' (cani = dogs), the hottest period of the year.
Ferie
Head to any Italian city in August and you'll see hand-scrawled chiuso per ferie - 'closed for the holidays' - signs pasted onto shuttered shopfronts and cafes everywhere.
Most of Italy's urban centres effectively shut down for the warmest month of the year so their inhabitants can go to the mountains or sea and escape the suffocating heat.
READ ALSO: Ferragosto: Why the long August holidays are untouchable for Italians
The height of the ferie is August 15th, or Ferragosto - a summer festival that dates all the way back to Roman times. If it falls mid-week, expect the few Italians still at work to fare il ponte - 'make the bridge' - by making a long weekend of it.
Spiaggia
Once you've put up your (physical or email) chiuso per ferie sign, it's time to hightail it out of the city and in all likelihood head straight down to the spiaggia, the beach.
More than half of Italy's coastline is privatised, so you'll need to decide whether you want to fork out for an ombrellone (beach umbrella) and lettino (sunbed) at a beach club, or find a stretch of sabbia (sand) where you can set down your towel for free.
READ ALSO: REVEALED: The Italian beaches you might want to avoid this summer
Guitgia beach on the island of Lampedusa. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)
Once you're installed in your accommodation and have found your spot on the beach, you can godersi un po' di mare - enjoy a little bit of sea, as Italians say. Just be prepared to share the beach with most of the rest of Italy if you go during August.
Tormentone dell'estate
Turn on the car radio on your drive down to the beach - or simply enter a cafe - and you can expect to hear the same song playing over and over until you find yourself involuntarily singing it, even when you don't know what all the words mean.
READ ALSO: What to expect when travelling to Italy in summer 2023
Every country has its summer hit, and Italy is no exception - only here, it's known as the tormentone dell'estate.
A tormentone loosely translates as something like an earworm, but literally means a 'big torment', which pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Here's hoping the 'big torment' of this year's summer is something worth listening to - because we all will be, again and again.
Abbronzarsi
Aside from the health benefits of soaking up a bit of sun, a key objective of many of those heading to the beach in Italy is to abbronzarsi - to get a tan or tan oneself.
Ti sei abbronzato/a! - you're tanned! - is one of the highest compliments you can pay an Italian (Abbronzatissima, which translates as something like 'Super-tanned girl', is a famous Edoardo Vianello song released in 1963, and was presumably the tormentone dell'estate of that year).
Of course, you'll want to make sure your abbronzatura doesn't turn into a scottatura - a sunburn - so you'll need to slap on plenty of crema solare (sun screen) before stretching out under the sun.
Fare un tuffo
When the sun's rays get too hot to handle, it's time to fare un tuffo - 'take a dip' in the ocean (or lake, or swimming pool).
If getting into the water isn't your thing, you might prefer to fare una gita in barca - go on a boat trip, which is a popular activity particularly in areas surrounded by small islands, as you can spend the day (or week) island-hopping.
READ ALSO: Nine unmistakable signs that summer has arrived in Italy
Just make sure to take your farmaci antiemetici, or anti-sickness pills, if you suffer from mal di mare (seasickness).
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School's officially out in Italy, and the countdown is on till everyone else can put on their Out of Office or hang up their work gear and head to the beach.
Or perhaps you've decided to take your holiday a little early this year to beat the crowds, and are already sipping on a spritz by a quiet poolside, congratulating yourself on your timing.
Either way, if you're spending the summer in Italy, there's some indispensable vocabulary you'll want to make sure you add to your repertoire. Let's get started.
Fa caldo!
One of the first things you'll want to do when it starts to get hot in Italy is comment on the situation - as a conversation starter, or simply in the course of muttering to yourself - and for that you'll need the phrase fa caldo.
It means 'it's hot', but as fa is from fare, meaning 'to make', it literally translates as 'it (the weather) makes hot'.
READ ALSO: Fried eggs and sweaty underpants: 10 phrases for complaining about the heat like an Italian
If you find yourself getting confused by how much caldo sounds like 'cold', just think of a boiling cauldron - the words have the same root.
Afa
The reason why Italian summers feel so hot isn't just because of the high temperatures, but the off-the-charts humidity.
There's a word for that stifling, oppressive, muggy heat: afa. There's not really a direct translation in English, perhaps because this kind of weather doesn't exist in most of the places where anglophones tend to live.
If you're around in Italy during a heatwave, you'll want the word canicola. It comes from Latin, referring to the 'dog days of summer' (cani = dogs), the hottest period of the year.
Ferie
Head to any Italian city in August and you'll see hand-scrawled chiuso per ferie - 'closed for the holidays' - signs pasted onto shuttered shopfronts and cafes everywhere.
Most of Italy's urban centres effectively shut down for the warmest month of the year so their inhabitants can go to the mountains or sea and escape the suffocating heat.
READ ALSO: Ferragosto: Why the long August holidays are untouchable for Italians
The height of the ferie is August 15th, or Ferragosto - a summer festival that dates all the way back to Roman times. If it falls mid-week, expect the few Italians still at work to fare il ponte - 'make the bridge' - by making a long weekend of it.
Spiaggia
Once you've put up your (physical or email) chiuso per ferie sign, it's time to hightail it out of the city and in all likelihood head straight down to the spiaggia, the beach.
More than half of Italy's coastline is privatised, so you'll need to decide whether you want to fork out for an ombrellone (beach umbrella) and lettino (sunbed) at a beach club, or find a stretch of sabbia (sand) where you can set down your towel for free.
READ ALSO: REVEALED: The Italian beaches you might want to avoid this summer
Once you're installed in your accommodation and have found your spot on the beach, you can godersi un po' di mare - enjoy a little bit of sea, as Italians say. Just be prepared to share the beach with most of the rest of Italy if you go during August.
Tormentone dell'estate
Turn on the car radio on your drive down to the beach - or simply enter a cafe - and you can expect to hear the same song playing over and over until you find yourself involuntarily singing it, even when you don't know what all the words mean.
READ ALSO: What to expect when travelling to Italy in summer 2023
Every country has its summer hit, and Italy is no exception - only here, it's known as the tormentone dell'estate.
A tormentone loosely translates as something like an earworm, but literally means a 'big torment', which pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Here's hoping the 'big torment' of this year's summer is something worth listening to - because we all will be, again and again.
Abbronzarsi
Aside from the health benefits of soaking up a bit of sun, a key objective of many of those heading to the beach in Italy is to abbronzarsi - to get a tan or tan oneself.
Ti sei abbronzato/a! - you're tanned! - is one of the highest compliments you can pay an Italian (Abbronzatissima, which translates as something like 'Super-tanned girl', is a famous Edoardo Vianello song released in 1963, and was presumably the tormentone dell'estate of that year).
Of course, you'll want to make sure your abbronzatura doesn't turn into a scottatura - a sunburn - so you'll need to slap on plenty of crema solare (sun screen) before stretching out under the sun.
Fare un tuffo
When the sun's rays get too hot to handle, it's time to fare un tuffo - 'take a dip' in the ocean (or lake, or swimming pool).
If getting into the water isn't your thing, you might prefer to fare una gita in barca - go on a boat trip, which is a popular activity particularly in areas surrounded by small islands, as you can spend the day (or week) island-hopping.
READ ALSO: Nine unmistakable signs that summer has arrived in Italy
Just make sure to take your farmaci antiemetici, or anti-sickness pills, if you suffer from mal di mare (seasickness).
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