When describing someone or something weird or quirky in Italian, strano is generally the most common choice.
However, there are many more adjectives out there that can be used in its place, and bislacco (hear it pronounced here) is one of them.
Translated into English, bislacco means bizarre, odd, eccentric or quirky. In its adjective form, it ends with an a for feminine singular nouns and an o for masculine singular ones.
Ha una testa bislacca.
He has a eccentric mind.
Non vi sembra bislacco?
Doesn’t it seem odd?
Ho un sacco di idee bislacche.
I have a lot of quirky ideas.
The word bislacco is thought to originate from the old Slovenian word bezjak (meaning 'fool' or 'silly person'). Experts believe it was later 'italianised' in Italy's northeast due to the area's proximity to Slovenia.
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You may have also heard bislacco being used as a noun in informal Italian. If used to address someone, this can be mildly insulting, so you may want to use it sparingly:
Lo chiamavano Alan il bislacco
They called him bizarre Alan.
Next time something about life in Italy strikes you as strano, don’t forget about bislacco.
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