The importance of the double consonant
Pronunciation in Italian can be a wee bit tricky. They have this thing about double consonants, things like maggio, pappagallo, cappello, etc. You have to pronounce a double consonant differently from a single consonant. Anno and ano are not the same thing: one means year and the other means anus. In English it isn't such a big deal, and in American English, we barely pronounce single consonants, let alone doubles. Just for a little test, say the word butter out loud, right now.
You just said budher didn't you? Try Seattle.
There was a delicate tapping of the toungue on the roof of the mouth between ee and ull wasn't there? (If you are British and reading this entry you don't count. You Brits pronounce butter properly, I know.)
Here in Italy, the American liberty with double consonants doesn't fly. While I am happy (try saying that one out loud, the Italians will go crazy with confusion) to allow my words flow out of my mouth as they choose, the people around here are quite strict about differentiation.
For example, I asked my boyfriend the other day, "What's a capellone?"
He nearly choked on his grappa.
"Where did you hear that?" he asked me.
"I saw it spray painted on a tunnel outside the city. It said, 'Il mio ragazzo è un capellone,' (My boyfriend is a capellone.)"
"To clarify," he asked me, "Did it say cappellone or capellone?"
I couldn't remember, honestly. "Maybe it said cappellone."
"Then," he said, "It means her boyfriend has long hair."
He finished the rest of his grappa.
Although long hair is not a common trend in Italy right now (although MULLETS! are for some reason), I didn't think the fact that a girl has a long haired boyfriend would be sufficiently interesting to warrant spraypainting the fact on a tunnel wall.
"And if it had one p?" I asked.
He sighed. "Then it means her boyfriend has a very large headed penis."
All this is very important because, besides the fact that lazy American tongues might accidently out thier boyfriends as supreme pleasure givers instead of merely tranquil hippies, I find it a delightful thing that in Italy there is even a word for someone who has a penis with a very large head. I mean, what is the equivalent of that in English? Seriously.
You just said budher didn't you? Try Seattle.
There was a delicate tapping of the toungue on the roof of the mouth between ee and ull wasn't there? (If you are British and reading this entry you don't count. You Brits pronounce butter properly, I know.)
Here in Italy, the American liberty with double consonants doesn't fly. While I am happy (try saying that one out loud, the Italians will go crazy with confusion) to allow my words flow out of my mouth as they choose, the people around here are quite strict about differentiation.
For example, I asked my boyfriend the other day, "What's a capellone?"
He nearly choked on his grappa.
"Where did you hear that?" he asked me.
"I saw it spray painted on a tunnel outside the city. It said, 'Il mio ragazzo è un capellone,' (My boyfriend is a capellone.)"
"To clarify," he asked me, "Did it say cappellone or capellone?"
I couldn't remember, honestly. "Maybe it said cappellone."
"Then," he said, "It means her boyfriend has long hair."
He finished the rest of his grappa.
Although long hair is not a common trend in Italy right now (although MULLETS! are for some reason), I didn't think the fact that a girl has a long haired boyfriend would be sufficiently interesting to warrant spraypainting the fact on a tunnel wall.
"And if it had one p?" I asked.
He sighed. "Then it means her boyfriend has a very large headed penis."
All this is very important because, besides the fact that lazy American tongues might accidently out thier boyfriends as supreme pleasure givers instead of merely tranquil hippies, I find it a delightful thing that in Italy there is even a word for someone who has a penis with a very large head. I mean, what is the equivalent of that in English? Seriously.