Italian

Police stand guard at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome during Lazio's match against Eintracht Frankfurt. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Italian police on Thursday arrested five Eintracht Frankfurt fans after clashes near the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where their team beat Lazio in the Europa League. Nearly 9,000 German fans were in the Italian capital for the match between the teams, who had already qualified from Group H, with Eintracht in first place and Lazio in second. Most of the away supporters were escorted directly to the stadium in coaches. But a group of 200 to 300 fans attempted on foot to get through a police block next to the stadium in a bid to reach the Lazio supporters, setting off smoke bombs and firecrackers, police said. Fans scale barriers at the Stadio Olimpico. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Frankfurt won 2-1 after coming back from a goal down thanks to two second-half strikes. Shortly after Lazio scored, German fans had charged the pitch, before stewards and … [Read more...] about Italian police arrest rowdy German football fans after clashes in Rome

Today's word will help you get in touch with your Italian friends, quite literally. How do you describe the sound your phone makes? Is it a ring, a buzz, a bell, a beep, or something else altogether? For Italians, it's uno squillo. It comes from the verb squillare ('to ring') and it's what your phone does when someone calls you. Lo squillo del telefono mi ha svegliato.  By extension, fare uno squillo means 'to make a call'. Perché non fai uno squillo a Papà? More specifically, lo squillo is the practice of giving someone a missed call: ringing and hanging up before you get an answer. It's less common in these days of WhatsApp, FaceTime and unlimited data, but for a while there it was the method of choice for young Italians with limited phone credit to let others know they were on their way, waiting downstairs, or simply thinking of them. Fammi uno squillo quando arrivi a casa! But here's where you want to be extremely careful with your articles. While uno … [Read more...] about Italian word of the day: ‘Squillo’

Even if you've only just started learning Italian, the chances are you will have encountered the word ma ('but') by now.  But (!) there's more than one way to contradict yourself or others, especially in Italian. Today's word is a commonly used alternative: invece (pronounced 'in-vetch-eh'). In its simplest sense, it too means 'but'. Pensavo che fosse partita, invece era ancora lì. Credevo di aver ragione e invece no. Invece can do a few more things than 'but', however. Followed by di, it means 'instead of'... Prendo un tè invece del caffè. Invece di lamentarti, datti da fare! ... while adding che turns it into 'rather than'. Preferirei lavorare in Italia invece che in Francia. Ho deciso di venire qui di persona, invece che parlare al telefono. Invece also functions like 'on the contrary' or 'on the other hand', helping to contrast two ideas or subjects. Ti ho rimproverato per molte tue azioni: per questa invece ti lodo. Io preferisco i romanzi, Simona … [Read more...] about Italian word of the day: ‘Invece’

Passersby lay tributes to victims of the Strasbourg Christmas market attack. Photo: Patrick Herzog/AFP An Italian journalist is fighting for his life after being shot in a suspected terrorist attack at the Christmas market in Strasbourg, according to his friends and family. Antonio Megalizzi, a 29-year-old radio reporter from Trento in northern Italy, is in a coma after taking a bullet to the head, his girlfriend's father told Ansa. "From what I understand ... it is not possible to operate because of the position of the bullet, which reached the column at the base of the skull, near to the spine," Danilo Moresco told the news agency. Megalizzi was one of 13 people wounded when a lone gunman opened fire on Strasbourg's famous Christmas market on Tuesday evening. Two others were killed.  The journalist had travelled to the French city to report on the latest session of the European Parliament for Europhonica, a radio station specialized in EU parliamentary news. Another … [Read more...] about Italian journalist seriously hurt in Strasbourg Christmas market attack