The use of Italian sayings is a must if you want to bring your Italian language mastering to a higher level.
As you can see, the title of this post already contains an English idiom and this is the chance for you to learn the right Italian translation.
There’s not a literal translation of this English way of saying to Italian.
It’s quite new in English too, so we have to find some alternative translation to Italian:
Portare all’ennesima potenza
To bring to the Nth degree.
So the title of this post should become “37 Italian Sayings To Bring Your Italian Language Proficiency to the Nth degree!”
Why Is It Important To Learn Italian Sayings If You Want To Master the Italian Language?
To be fluent in Italian (as in any other language) you have to learn Italian sayings, it’s not enough to learn grammatical rules by heart, repeat verbs conjugation, memorize tables with exceptions.
Ok, the study of grammar is important and will help you to speak and write correctly, but there are more important aspects of a language that must be known: expressions of courtesy, proverbs, idioms and anything else that will help you to reach fluency.
Idiomatic sentences, proverbs, and idioms in Italian are very frequent in expressing oneself, both in written and oral form.
The meaning of many ways of sayings is not always literally understandable and cannot be translated word by word: it is necessary to become familiar with their meaning and learn to use them correctly.
So, here they are, 37 Italian sayings & idioms for outstanding language proficiency:
Italian Sayings About Happiness/Joy
1. Essere al settimo cielo
Pronunciation:
Literal Translation: Being in seventh heaven
English Idiom: “To be on cloud nine.”
Meaning: To be extremely happy
Origin of this saying: This expression comes the Middle Ages when people believed that there were seven skies and that they constituted the entire universe.
So the way of saying “Being in seventh heaven” is used to describe the feelings given by great joy: above the seventh medieval sky there is nothing left and everything is below it, just like when one is happy.
2. Fare i salti dalla gioia
Literal Translation: Jumping for joy
English Idiom: “To be on cloud nine.” (Also “Jumping for joy”)
Meaning: To be extremely happy
3. Darsi alla pazza gioia
Literal Translation: Give themselves to mad joy
English Idiom: “ living it up” (Also “Jumping for joy”)
Meaning: To be extremely happy. to party, to enjoy yourself
Italian Sayings About Family
4. Il sangue non è acqua
Literal Translation: Blood is not water
English Idiom: “Blood is thicker than water.”
Meaning: familiar bonds will always be stronger than bonds of friendship or love.
Origin of this saying: The generally accepted interpretation of the saying is that the bonds of people bound by blood are stronger than the bonds of marriage or friendship.
The origin of the proverb is often attributed to Scottish poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott in his novel “Guy Mannering” published in 1815.
5. Vuole la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca
Pronunciation:
Literal Translation: He wants a full wine barrel and a drunken wife
English Idiom: “He wants to have his cake and eat it too.”
Meaning: It’s a way of saying that you can’t expect to have everything.
Origin of this saying: It comes from the love of Italians for wine, historical drink of Italy.
Italian Sayings About Money
6. Essere al verde
Pronunciation:
Literal Translation: To be at the green
English Idiom: To be broke.
Meaning: To be broke.
Origin of this saying: It comes from an old custom of the public auctions in Florence. At the beginning the auctioneer lighted a candle tinted green in the lower part.
When the flame reached the end of the candle (the green part), nobody could make more offers and the auction was terminated.
7. Non ho una lira
Literal Translation: I don’t have a lira (old Italian money)
English Idiom: To be broke.
Meaning: To be without money.
Italian Idioms About Animals
8. In bocca al lupo
Literal Translation: In the mouth of the wolf
English Idiom: Break a leg
Meaning: Good luck (superstitious!)
Origin of this saying: This expression probably comes from an ancient formula that was addressed to wolf hunters.
They usually answered, always with the same apotropaic value “Crepi il lupo!” (May the wolf die!).
The phrase passed from the language of hunters to the common language as a wish for any difficult situation in which somebody incurs.
8. In bocca al lupo
Literal Translation: In the mouth of the wolf
English Idiom: Break a leg
Meaning: Good luck (superstitious!)
Origin of this saying: This expression probably comes from an ancient formula that was addressed to wolf hunters.
They usually answered, always with the same apotropaic value “Crepi il lupo!” (May the wolf die!).
The phrase passed from the language of hunters to the common language as a wish for any difficult situation in which somebody incurs.
9. Prendere 2 piccioni con una fava.
Literal Translation: To catch 2 pigeons with a 1 broad beans
English Idiom: Killing two birds with one stone.
Meaning: to get 2 (or even more) results through a single action or job.
Origin of this saying: Once the beans were used in traps for hunting pigeons. So the saying alludes to the fact that with one bait two prey can be taken (hence the multiple results).
10. Fare la gatta morta
Literal Translation: To behave like a dead female cat.
English Idiom: Cocktease (sexual pejorative)
Meaning: A woman who behaves in a seductive way
Origin of this saying: The reference to the dead female cat is found in the fables of Aesop and other narrators: a cat pretends to have died to make mice approach and take more easily.
11. Essere quattro gatti
Literal Translation: To be 4 cats.
English Idiom: To be a handful of people.
Meaning: here are only a few people.
Origin of this saying: Wild cats gather in a small pack of 3-4-5 max. From here the saying is transferred to people when they gather, indicating that they are few.
12. Essere un cane in chiesa
Literal Translation: To be a dog in church
English Idiom: No English Equivalent
Meaning: An unwelcome guest
Origin of this saying: Dogs cannot enter the church. In the past there was even the “scaccino” (the chaser), a man that had the task of “driving out”, in addition to vagrants, even dogs that had eventually taken refuge in the church.
13. Una rondine non fa primavera
Literal Translation: One swallow doesn’t make a spring.
English Idiom: One swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Meaning: this very popular idiom is often used as a warning, both to highlight that the appearance of a swallow in the sky must not infer that the spring has arrived; both, in a more general sense, that an isolated event is not enough to draw conclusions.
Origin of this saying: Deriving from the Latin proverb “Una hirundo non facit ver” of the same meaning, translated into “A swallow does not make spring”. The swallows normally arrive in large flocks, marking the arrival of the spring season.
14. Il bue che dice “cornuto” all’asino
Literal Translation: The ox that says “horned” to the donkey.
English Idiom: The pot calling the kettle black.
Meaning: Someone that accuses someone else of something that they are guilty of themselves.
Origin of this saying: The expression comes from the obvious fact that the ox has horns and the donkey does not have them.
Italian Sayings About Body Parts
15. Essere in gamba
Literal Translation: To be on the leg
English Idioms: To be on the ball, to be on top of things
Meaning: To be very capable, to be smart
Origin of this saying: This is one of my favorite Italian sayings. Those who are ill stay in bed most of the time and therefore their legs cannot use them. So, “being smart” means good health, being able to stand on one’s own leg.
16. Essere alla mano
Literal Translation: To be at the hand
English Idioms: To be down to earth
Meaning: To be open and friendly
17. Essere tutto orecchi (orecchie)
Literal Translation: To be all ears
English Idioms: To be all ears
Meaning: To be eager to listen
18. Sentirsi fischiare le orecchie
Literal Translation: To ear one own’s ears ring
English Idioms: Ears must be burning
Meaning: To suspect that someone is talking about us.
Origin of this saying: In ancient times the belief was that if the buzz was in the right ear, then we were talking about ourselves. On the contrary, if it was the left ear that whistled, you had to worry, because someone was talking to us in the back.
19. A cuor leggero
Literal Translation: With a light heart
English Idioms: Light-heartedly
Meaning: To suspect that someone is talking about us.
20. Parlare fuori dai denti
Literal Translation: To speak out of the teeth
English Idioms: To put it bluntly
Meaning: To speak frankly
Origin of this saying:
21. Parlare a braccio
Literal Translation: To speak by arm
English Idioms: To speak of the cuff
Meaning: To make a speech, often in public, without having as a reference a written draft, but counting only on memory and oratory skills.
Origin of this saying: The “braccio” (arm) was an ancient linear unit of measurement which corresponded more or less to 76 cm, hence the expression “speaking by arm” means doing something with a certain approximation.
Italian Sayings About Water
22. Tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare
Literal Translation: Between saying and doing is the see.
English Idiom: There is many a slip between cup and lip.
Meaning: It’s easy to express an intention, but very difficult to realize it.
23. Non ci piove
Literal Translation: It doesn’t rain on it
English Idiom: No doubt about it
Meaning: It’s sure, true.
Origin of this saying: not certain. The most accepted hypothesis is that it comes from the truth of an assertion, that can overcome even a shower of contrary opinions.
23. Perdersi in un bicchier d’acqua
Literal Translation: To get lost in a glass of water
English Idiom: To drown in an inch of water.
Meaning: To be unable to cope with the slightest problem
24. Acqua in bocca!
Literal Translation: Water in mouth!
English Idiom: “Blood is thicker than water.”
Meaning: Take it for yourself
Origin of this saying: This expression is used to indicate a secret that must not be revealed to anyone.
Probably this idiom comes from an anecdote of a woman who had a loose tongue.
Eventually, she to ask the priest to help her stop talking too much about confidential issues.
The priest gave her a vial with some miraculous water. Since the woman, every time she wanted to talk about something she put a few drops of this water in mouth.
Thanks to this escamotage, she stopped talking about compromising issues.
25. All’acqua di rose
Literal Translation: With rose water
English Idioms: Wishy-washy, half-hearted, milk-and-water
Meaning: Simple & easy (task, work)
Origin of this saying: This expression refers to the magic power of rose water that has a pleasant scent and is one of the best liquid purify the skin: simple and delicate.
So, the expression “with rose water” indicates a no brain task carried out easily.
26. Piove sul bagnato
Literal Translation: It rains on the wet
English Idiom: It never rains but pours
Meaning: The expression outlines the misfortunes that don’t come one at the time, but often together with other problems.
Origin of this saying: This way of saying comes from the writing of Giovanni Pascoli, a famous Italian poet.
He wrote, “It’s raining on the wet: tears on blood, blood on tears”.
27. Fare acqua da tutte la parti
Literal Translation: To lose water from all sides
English Idiom:
Meaning: A situation with a lot of problems
Origin of this saying: this expression comes from the marine language, and refers to a ship with too many leaks on his keel, i. e. a situation with too many negative issues…
28. Essere in alto mare
Literal Translation: To be on the high seas
English Idiom: To have a long way to go
Meaning: To be still at the beginning, not having done almost anything
Origin of this saying: It is a similitude to when one is offshore, far from the coast and the journey is still long.
28. O bere o affogare
Literal Translation: To drink or drown
English Idiom: To sink or swim
Meaning: To fail or succeed entirely by one’s own efforts
29. Fare un buco nell’acqua
Literal Translation: To make a hole in the water
English Idiom: A wild goose chase
Meaning: A failure
Origin of this saying: The origin of this Italian saying is to be found in its literal meaning. In fact, it is impossible to make a hole in the water, due to the force of gravity which has the effect of equalizing the level of the liquid. In this sense, the phrase has become synonymous with failure.
Italian Sayings About Time
30. Non vedo l’ora!
Literal Translation: I can’t see the time
English Idiom: No English equivalent
Meaning: I can’t wait – I’m looking forward to it
Origin of this saying: Probably it comes from the idea that waiting without looking at the time makes it seem like time is running faster.
31. Era ora!
Literal Translation: It was time!
English Idiom: It’s about time
Meaning: Finally!
32. Tempo al tempo
Literal Translation: Time to the time
English Idiom: All in good time
Meaning: Wait to see results…
33. Ad ogni morte di Papa
Literal Translation: Every time a Pope dies
English Idiom: Once in a blue moon
Meaning: Very, very rarely
Origin of this saying: It refers to the fact that the death of the pope is an event that occurs, as a rule, very very rarely.
34. Meglio tardi che mai
Literal Translation: Better late than never
English Idiom: Better late than never
Meaning: Better late than never
35. Alla lunga
Literal Translation: In the long
English Idiom: In the long run
Meaning: Over a long period of time
36. Non sono nato ieri
Literal Translation: I’m not born yesterday
English Idiom: I’m not born yesterday
Meaning: I’m enough experienced
37. A tempo perso
Literal Translation: In lost time
English Idiom: In spare time
Video Bonus: 10 Funny Italian Sayings
Miscellaneous Italian Sayings
Food, Friends, Family: 12 Italian Ways of Sayings
More About Italian Sayings & Phrases
8 Italian Phrases Lessons You Should Take Now to Improve Your Italian
40 Cool Italian Idioms for the Smooth-talking Language Learner