Italian word of the day: ‘Mammone’
Mum’s the word for this well-known term.
If you’ve lived in Italy the chances are you've heard the word mammone a few times, and that you'll know it describes someone who is particularly attached to their mamma.
Used on a younger child, this term is sweet and affectionate. But once you start using it on an adult it can be fairly insulting; it’s often used for adults who still live with their families at home, or who depend on their mothers to do everything for them. Make sure whoever you’re using it on is well out of earshot.
The word mammone (hear the pronunciation here) is a blend of mamma (mum/mom) and the suffix -one, which is added to the end of nouns to essentially make them bigger, i.e. gattone (big cat). With this logic it should mean ‘big mum’, but it doesn’t as it instead refers to the child being a 'big mama’s boy'.
Peter è un mammone buono a nulla!
Peter is a good-for-nothing mummy’s boy.
Mammone can be used for females too, though you'll hear this less frequently. All you have to do is change the ending to -ona and you have the feminine mammona.
Singular: Il mammone, La mammona
Plural: I mammoni, Le mammone
Bewilderingly, the plural for the female version is the same as the singular for the male version. Make sure you use the right articles to avoid any confusion. For example:
Erica non ha un buon rapporto con suo padre ed è una mammona.
Erica doesn't have a good rapport with her father and is a mummy’s girl.
Alessandro non è un mammone perché ha lasciato casa a 20 anni e si è trasferito all'estero.
Alessandro isn’t a mummy’s boy because he left home at 20 and moved to another country.
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If you’ve lived in Italy the chances are you've heard the word mammone a few times, and that you'll know it describes someone who is particularly attached to their mamma.
Used on a younger child, this term is sweet and affectionate. But once you start using it on an adult it can be fairly insulting; it’s often used for adults who still live with their families at home, or who depend on their mothers to do everything for them. Make sure whoever you’re using it on is well out of earshot.
The word mammone (hear the pronunciation here) is a blend of mamma (mum/mom) and the suffix -one, which is added to the end of nouns to essentially make them bigger, i.e. gattone (big cat). With this logic it should mean ‘big mum’, but it doesn’t as it instead refers to the child being a 'big mama’s boy'.
Peter è un mammone buono a nulla!
Peter is a good-for-nothing mummy’s boy.
Mammone can be used for females too, though you'll hear this less frequently. All you have to do is change the ending to -ona and you have the feminine mammona.
Singular: Il mammone, La mammona
Plural: I mammoni, Le mammone
Bewilderingly, the plural for the female version is the same as the singular for the male version. Make sure you use the right articles to avoid any confusion. For example:
Erica non ha un buon rapporto con suo padre ed è una mammona.
Erica doesn't have a good rapport with her father and is a mummy’s girl.
Alessandro non è un mammone perché ha lasciato casa a 20 anni e si è trasferito all'estero.
Alessandro isn’t a mummy’s boy because he left home at 20 and moved to another country.
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