Italian Language Trivia

1. Since you cannot attend one of Venice's famous masquerade parties without a mask, how does one say mask in Italian?

From Quiz La Festa Mascherata (The Masquerade Party)

Answer: La maschera

The word "maschera" refers to any type of mask, including those used in sports, but is most commonly used to mean part of a costume. The verb mascherare means to hide or conceal. La mascherata is a masquerade ball. The other two incorrect answers are made up words.

From Quiz La Fattoria Italiana (The Italian Farm)

Answer: Mucca

Mucca means cow. This is an easy word to remember because mucca is pronounced "moo-ka" similar to a cow's moo. Maiale is a pig. Volpe is a fox. Cervo is a deer.

From Quiz Italian For Beginners

Answer: Good morning, how are you?

"Buongiorno" means "good morning" while "come stai" is "how are you" with "stai" being the second person singular of the verb "stare". "Good evening" in Italian is "buonasera" while "good night" is "buonanotte".

From Quiz Italian Eatable Metaphors

Answer: In a dead end, with no resources left

Fruit are the last course in every proper meal. Unless you have some dessert. Or some cheese. Or some sweet wine to dip biscuits into. Or...

From Quiz Nel Ristorante

Answer: I pomodori

"Zucchini" are courgettes, "patate" are potatoes and "tramezzini" are sandwiches.

From Quiz Found in Translation II. Shakespeare in Italian.

Answer: Twelfth Night

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em" as Malvolio reads in the letter.

From Quiz An Italian Romance

Answer: Hai un sorriso incantevole

Hai = you have, i.e. the second person singular, or "tu" form, of the verb "avere" (to have). The "tu" form is a familiar, informal way to address a single person. In Italian there is also the more formal "Lei" form, i.e. the third person singular, which is mostly used to talk to a stranger or an elder person, and sometimes to keep people at distance. Since a sweetheart is neither a stranger nor a person one wants to keep at distance, tender feelings are generally expressed in the "tu" form. In Italian there is also a plural "you", used when speaking to more than one person. In that case, one conjugates a verb in the "voi" form, i. e. the second person plural. The other choices are: Una sorella svenevole = a simpering sister; un accento indecifrabile = an unintelligible accent; uno sguardo ingannevole = a deceitful glance.

From Quiz Found in Translation. Shakespeare in Italian

Answer: Hamlet

To be or not to be: that is the question.

From Quiz Let's Play Palla Ovale (Rugby)

Answer: Prop

"Pilone" is like saying "Tall pole" (nothing to do with Poland)

From Quiz Let's play Palla Base (Baseball)

Answer: Chicago

Cuccioli means Cubs. Other translations: Pirati di Pittsburgh, Giganti di San Francisco, Metropolitani di New York...the Yankees stay the same.

From Quiz Gli animali

Answer: giraffe

Yes, "la giraffa" means "giraffe" in Italian. "l'uccello" is a bird, "il cervo" is a deer, and "il maiale" is a pig.

From Quiz Tongue-twisters!

Answer: campa, crepa

"Sopra la panca la capra campa; sotto la panca la capra crepa", i.e. the goat lives on the bench and dies under it! Utterly meaningless, to be sure, as I've never heard of goats living on benches, but quite difficult to pronounce, especially if you have to repeat it several times!

From Quiz It's All Relative!

Answer: grandfather

The Italian for 'grandmother' is 'la nonna'. 'Godfather' is 'il padrino', 'father-in-law' is 'il suocero', and 'cousin' is 'il cugino'. To make all these feminine, the article must change from 'il' to 'la' and the ending must change from 'o' to 'a'.

From Quiz Italian Body Parts in Common Expressions

Answer: costare un occhio della testa

'Costare un occhio della testa' in Italian means that an eye is given in exchange for something valuable rather than the English 'arm and a leg'. 'Sognare ad occhi aperti' means 'to daydream' or literally 'to dream with eyes open'. 'Non chiudere occhio' means 'to not sleep a wink' or literally 'to not close one's eyes' and 'a quattr'occhi' means 'privately' or literally 'with four eyes' - in other words, with very few people knowing. There are many Italian expressions involving the eye or 'l'occhio'.

From Quiz Italian Animal Idioms

Answer: Sentire volare una mosca

Literally, 'sentire volare una mosca' means 'to hear a fly fly'. The other answer choices also relate to the fly. 'Saltare la mosca al naso' means 'to get upset', 'Non fare male a una mosca' means 'to not hurt a fly' and finally 'una mosca bianca' means that something is extremely rare. Literally translated, this is 'a white fly'.

From Quiz Complete the Italian Sayings and Proverbs

Answer: pesci

He who sleeps can't catch fish (pesci) is the basic translation or, the actual English saying is, the early bird catches the worm.

From Quiz The Infamous False Friends

Answer: naturalmente

Of course it is "naturalmente"! "Di corsa" means running, or quickly, while "poi" means afterwards and "forse" means perhaps.

From Quiz ART-iculate Italian words

Answer: affresco

It is indeed an "affresco", that is a fresco. "Acquerello" means watercolour, "carboncino" means charcoal, and "tempera" means tempera or distemper.

From Quiz Italian and English Proverbs & Sayings

Answer: Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani

"Ambasciator non porta pena" is "Don't shoot the messenger"; "Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco" is "You can't win them all"; "Quando il gatto non c'è i topi ballano" is "When the cat is away the mice will play"

From Quiz Beatles Lyrics in Italian

Answer: Help

"Aiuto!" is also the Italian title of the 1965 film. You should hear the Fabs dubbed in Italian.

From Quiz Basic Italian Phrases

Answer: buon giorno

'Giorno' is a day and 'buon'/ 'buono' (good) is an adjective used to denote nouns of masculine gender.

From Quiz Same Spelling, Different Meaning

Answer: Evil

Apple is "mela", honey is "miele", and mule is "mulo".

From Quiz Absurd Italian 465

Answer: The turtle wakes at midnight.

Svegliarsi is the word for to wake up. Sblagliarsi is to be mistaken. Mezzogiorno is of course noon. Torta would be several types of pie or cake and also several savory versions of something in a crust. Here where I live, "torta di verdura" is a sort of pie with Swiss chard or zucchini in it and other fillings.

From Quiz Italian Colors

Answer: green

Green is a secondary color, made by combining the colors yellow and blue. Emerald green is the birthstone for May (which symbolizes love and success). The birthstone for the month of August also uses a green color, which is Peridot and it symbolizes married happiness. The color green is sometimes used to represent envy, hence the phrase "green with envy."

From Quiz Absurd Italian 506

Answer: Excuse me Madame, but there's a crocodile in your suitcase.

Cocodrillo is a crocodile, noce di cocco is coconut they are sometimes served in a little fountain arrangement at the seaside, a littly pyramid of coconut pieces! This is dedicated to my friend Rosedevents, a former librarian who once saw a gentleman patron photocopying a coconut and no one knew how to ask him why in any language!

From Quiz Italian Foods - Fruit, and a Few Nuts

Answer: albicocca

Una anguria is a watermelon, una arancia is an orange, and apricotta is something I made up.

From Quiz Italian Expressions of Time

Answer: inverno

Invierno is Spanish, hiver is French, and inverna is just gibberish.

From Quiz La Fattoria Italiana (The Italian Farm)

Answer: Pecora

Pecora is a sheep. Unlike in English, there is a plural form for sheep in Italian: pecore. Gallo is a rooster. Tacchino is a turkey and cavallo is a horse.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 10:57 AM

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