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Eccovi cari, some Italian idioms and expressions that use anima (soul). Ciao for now!

non c'era anima viva
there was not a soul about (when a place looks deserted)

all'anima!
good grief!

un'anima in pena
a soul in torment

anima gemella
soul mate

reggere l'anima coi denti
to be on one's last legs

mettersi l'anima in pace
to accept something, resign oneself to somthing for the sake of peace of mind

rendere l'anima a Dio
to give up the ghost (die)

rodere l'anima (mi rode l'anima)
to prey on one's mind

Ciao cari! Long overdue but here's a new Italian idiom flashcard set. Ciao for now!

andare a rotoli
to go downhill, to go to the dogs

un sacco di
a lot of

andare a piedi
to go on foot

Fa cagare.
It sucks.

Mi sta sul cazzo.
used when someone or something really annoys you

inculare
to screw over (literally to bugger)

una messinscena
an act (as when someone puts on an act to deceive someone)

essere del mestiere
to be an expert

Please enjoy this week's set of Italian idiom flashcards brought to you by Toronto's coolest language nerds, tutorino!

Arrivo!
Coming! (when someone calls you)

sfigato
unlucky

farsi scrupoli
to hesitate, second guess, have doubts, think twice

Ma come ti è venuta in mente di (fare qualcosa)?
What made you decide (to do something)?

Non mi va giù.
I can't accept that.

fare salti mortali
to try really hard, bend over backwards

Eccovi ragazzi, ancora altre espressioni idiomatiche. Buono studio!

essere fuso
to be burnt out

una marea di
hundreds of ("a tide of")

essere in grado di fare qualcosa
to be able to do something

poco fa
a few moments ago

poco tempo fa
a while ago

fra poco, fra un po'
in a few moments, in a little while

dopo, più tardi
later

guai a (Guai a te se non ci vieni.)
the worse for (The worse for you if you don't come.)

passare un brutto guaio
to go through a bad time

combinare un bel guaio
to make a fine mess of things

la maggior parte di
most of

sentirsela
to feel up to something

Ciao amore! Ecco some Italian love vocab flashcards for Valentines Day. Baci!

l'amore
love

il cuore
heart

il dolore
pain

il desiderio
desire

baciare
to kiss

il bacio
kiss

abbracciare
to hug

l'abbraccio
hug

fare l'amore
to make love

il sesso
sex

le rose rosse
red roses

amare
to love

Ti amo.
I love you.

volersi bene
to love each other

Ti voglio bene.
I love you.

adorare
to adore

Ti adoro.
I adore you.

Sei bellissima!
You're gorgeous!

Voglio fare l'amore con te.
I want to make love to you.

innamorarsi
to fall in love

l'amante
lover

San Valentino
Valentines Day

Buon San Valentino amore mio!
Happy Valentines Day my love!

Eccovi ragazzi, a few more handy Italian idiom flashcards. Ciao for now!

amici per la pelle
best buddies

gli anni verdi
heyday

essere alle prime armi
to be a novice

Dove vuoi arrivare?
What are you getting at?

rimanere a bocca aperta
to be dumbfounded

una boccata d'aria
a breath of fresh air

per farla breve
to make a long story short

essere solo come un cane
to be completely alone

Here you go guys, this week's Italian vocab flashcard post. Ciao for now!

da piccolo
as a child

Accada quel che accada.
Come what may.

agitare le acque
to rock the boat

all'acqua e sapone
simple

Affare fatto!
It's a deal!

fare un buon affare
to get a good deal

Ci mancherebbe altro!
God forbid!

Here you go guys, the first vocab post of '08, another flashcard set of Italian expressions. Ciao for now!

Come no!
an emphatic way of saying yes, of course, definitely

essere più forte di se
used when you can't resist doing something, when something causes you to go against your willpower

farla finita
to put an end to something, cut something out

venire al dunque
to get to the point

scherzi a parte
joking aside

Molla! / Mollala!
Stop that!

Tutto a posto!
Everything is A.O.K.!

provarla sulla propria pelle
to experience something for oneself

sfogarsi
to get something off one's chest

essere portato a
to have a knack, gift or flair for something

Mitico!
expresses strong enthusiasm for or approval of something

fare lo spiritoso
to play the funny man

Non è cosa.
It's out of the question.

essere a pezzi
"to be in pieces" (usually through exhaustion or emotional strain)

farsi in quattro per gli altri
to bend over backwards for others

Ma guarda un po'!
Well would you look at that! (way of expressing surprise)

Someone from Canada is a Canadian. Someone from the U.S. is an American. But what do you call people from the various Italian regions we learned a while back? That's the topic of today's Italian flashcard set - it's not always obvious!

Take note - the region (a noun) is capped but the adjectival form is not. E.g. the region is Toscana (cap). The adjectival form ("Tuscan wine") is toscano - vino toscano. No cap. A resident of the region ("a Tuscan" in English) is un toscano (an adjective used as a noun - still no cap).

Abruzzo
abruzzese

Basilicata
lucano, -a

Calabria
calabrese

Campania
campano, -a

Emilia-Romagna
emiliano, -a; romagnolo, -a

Friuli-Venezia Giulia
friulano, -a; giuliano, -a

Lazio
una persona del Lazio (the adjective "laziale" isn't used as a noun to refer to residents of Lazio)

Liguria
ligure

Lombardia
lombardo, -a

Marche
marchigiano, -a

Molise
molisano, -a

Piemonte
piemontese

Puglia
pugliese

Sardegna
sardo, -a

Sicilia
siciliano, -a

Toscana
toscano, -a

Trentino-Alto Adige
trentino, -a; altoatesino, -a

Umbria
umbro, -a

Valle d'Aosta
valdostano, -a

Veneto
veneto, -a

OK guys, last post we learned the twenty Italian regions. Much like our Canadian provinces, each region (or "regione") has a capital city (or "capoluogo"). This post we'll learn the twenty capoluoghi. Buono studio!

Abruzzo
L'Aquila

Puglia
Bari

Valle d'Aosta
Aosta

Basilicata
Potenza

Calabria
Catanzaro

Campania
Napoli

Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Trieste

Emilia-Romagna
Bologna

Lazio
Roma

Liguria
Genova

Lombardia
Milano

Marche
Ancona

Molise
Campobasso

Piemonte
Torino

Sardegna
Cagliari

Sicilia
Palermo

Toscana
Firenze

Trentino-Alto Adige
Trento

Umbria
Perugia

Veneto
Venezia

OK guys it's good to know some Italian geographical names. In case you travel all over Italy or meet people from different parts. So this post will teach you the twenty regions. They are like the provinces in Canada or the states in the U.S.

Each number on one side of the flashcards corresponds to a number on the map below. So when using the flashcards, refer to the map. That way you not only learn the regions' names but where they are situated.

01 - Piemonte
02 - Valle d'Aosta
03 - Lombardia
04 - Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
05 - Veneto
06 - Friuli-Venezia Giulia
07 - Liguria
08 - Emilia-Romagna
09 - Toscana
10 - Umbria
11 - Le Marche
12 - Lazio
13 - Abruzzo
14 - Molise
15 - Campania
16 - Puglia
17 - Basilicata
18 - Calabria
19 - Sicilia
20 - Sardegna

Here you go guys, a new set of Italian idiom flashcards. Ciao for now!

Piantala!
Stop it!

Ci penso io.
I'll take care of it.

valere la pena
to be worth the trouble

a malapena (sometimes "a mala pena")
barely, scarcely, hardly, just

togliere il disturbo
to leave (someone's home, office, etc. when you fear you're disturbing them)

dare un'occhiata
to glance at, have a look at

darsi da fare
to get down to, get busy

può darsi
maybe

Here you go guys, an Italian idiom flashcard set featuring Italian equivalents of English idioms containing the word "matter." Ciao for now!

a matter of course - I took it as a matter of course that you would come.
dare per scontato - Ho dato per scontato che saresti ventuo.

as a matter of fact - As a matter of fact he's not coming.
in verità - In verità non ci viene.

matter-of-fact - He was very matter-of-fact in talking about his problem.
concreto - Ha parlato del suo problema in termini molto concreti.

no matter what - Don't believe him no matter what he says.
qualunque cosa - Non credergli qualunque cosa dica.

to be the matter - What's the matter?
esserci - Cosa c'è?

Here's some good streetsmart Italian vocab for you - a selection of eating, food and hunger terms. Ciao for now!

far venire l'acquolina in bocca
to make one's mouth water

avere una fame da lupi
to be hungry as a horse

stare a dieta
to be on a diet

essere un morto di fame
to be a nobody or a nothing

essere sciupato
to have gotten skinnier

essere una buona forchetta
to be a hearty eater

abbuffarsi
to pig out

A tavola!
Time to eat! Supper's ready!

essere sazio
to be full

pappare
to eat up, gobble up

ruttare
to burp

scoppiare
to burst or explode (because you're so full)

togliersi lo sfizio
to satisfy a craving

essere buono come il pane
to be as good as gold

Eccovi ragazzi, a new Italian vocab flashcard set, this one devoted to banking and money matters. Ciao for now!

arricchirsi
to get rich

il bancomat
ATM (bank machine)

essere al verde
to be broke

essere ricco sfondato
to be filthy rich

fare quattrini
to make some money

la grana, i quattrini, il denaro
dough, money

i guadagni
earnings

prelevare
to withdraw

versare
to deposit

i risparmi
savings

Eccovi guys, a smorgasbord of useful everyday Italian expressions, flashcardized.

Che bello!
Shows enthusiastic approval of something.

Uffa!
Shows you're annoyed, bored, angry or fed up with a situation. Kind of like, "Aargh!"

Che ne so!
Use it when you have no idea about something. Like, "How should I know!"

Ti sta bene!
Serves you right!

Non te la prendere.
Don't get so upset.

Che macello!
What a mess!

Non mi va.
I don't feel like it.

Mi raccomando!
Way of adding urgency to a request, sort of like, "Please, I beg you!"

There's no real theme to this week's Italian vocab flashcard set on idioms. Hope you enjoy! C4N.

farsi vivo
to show up

venire la voglia di
to suddenly feel like

ingannare il tempo
to kill time

cantare come un cane
to sing badly

buio da ladri
pitch dark

essere al verde
to be flat broke

non avere il becco di un quattrino
to be absolutely penniless

Here you go guys, another Italian vocab flashcard update featuring idioms, this time with reflexives. C4N!

leccarsi i baffi
to lick one's chops

non ricordarsi dal naso alla bocca
to have a bad memory

fermarsi alla prima bottega
to settle for less

sentirsi cascare le braccia
to lose heart; to feel utterly frustrated

mordersi le dita (le mani)
to feel like kicking oneself

Ciao guys, this week's vocab flashcard set gives you six handy Italian idioms using food terms. Enjoy and share!

non sapere che pesci pigliare
to be at a loss, not to know what to do

essere sano come un pesce
to be fit as a fiddle

far ridere i polli
to be absurd, ridiculous

prendere un granchio
to blunder, to goof

essere buono come il pane
to be worth one's weight in gold

essere una buona forchetta
to be a hearty eater

Here you go guys, in honour of Pavarotti, a set of Italian idioms that include the verb cantare - to sing. C4N!

Canta che ti passa.
Sing the blues away, whistle while you work.

cantarla ai sordi
to talk to a brick wall

lasciar cantare qualcuno
to disregard someone's criticisms and complaints, to let someone rant and rave

cantare vittoria
to rejoice in an achievement

cantarla chiara
to speak one's mind, to spell something out