 My father was born in Molfetta, Puglia in the South. My Mom's mother and father came from Naples. Both spoke dialects of Italian. My mother often said that my father's dialect was so different from hers that she couldn't understand certain words. If you watch the Godfather, especially the scenes in GF II showing Vito Corleone as a young man, you can hear this sort of dialect... albeit Sicilian. The words in the South are often totally different. Lots of slang is used. Liaisons happen... Usually, the end of one word attaches to the beginning of the next word. Beginnings of words are often omitted. Even Italians consider these dialects like another language... for example, the announcements on the train from Bari to Rome are in English, Italian and "Dialetto". Dialect sounds nothing like regular Italian down South.
Now, add to all this the fact that Italian immigrants in American spoke a sort of second hand Italian dialect, much was lost to misunderstood pronunciations and the fact that many (like my parents) didn't want to speak Italian in the home. When I asked why my parents didn't teach us Italian, they said they wanted an "All-American" home for us. Even today in the South parents don't want their children to speak Dialect when they move to the big cities in Italy. They are looked down upon for speaking it by Northern Italians. What a shame... These dialects are what makes Italian so interesting. Here are a collection of words and phrases that I grew up with... spelled phonetically: Stoonod Idiot Mopeen Dish Cloth, Rag Agida/Agita Acid indigestion caused by someone aggravating you Googootz A fool Cabbadost Thick head/stubborn sfatcheem a Jerk Stroonz an Ass Stroonz-a-medz Half ass Strombolone Clumsy Chooch Jackass Briagone Drunk A-fa Nabalee Get out of Here/Go to Naples Facha-broot Ugly face Dees-Gradseeyad You disgrace! Stata-Geet Shut Up SkeeVo Disgusting Ashpette Wait! Jadrool Lazy bum (cucumber) Ooo-Fah I've had it/I'm fed up TooSay Batz You're crazy Bock-owz Bathroom/stink house Bazanigole Basil Boombotz Idiot/Crazy Brazjole Brasciole/Penis Kay-Gotz What the F*ck Gotzo What Balls Coh-Yonees Balls Ah-Va-Fan-gool Go f*ck yourself Pasta-vazool Pasta fagioli (bean soup) Gobba-ghool Capicola (a type of cold cut meat) Gabeesh? Understand? Gavone Pig/Slob/Overeater Jamoke Idiot Goombah Pal/Comrade/Friend GooMahd Girlfriend ComoseeCyam? What do you call it? Keh -sa-deech? How are you? Mal-yOke Evil eye Mamaluke Idiot/stupid/screw-up Manageya Damn it/Curse it Managutt Manicotti (pasta) Madone! Madonna! (exclamation) Medz-a-medz So-so/half and half/not so much Mutzarelle Mozzarella cheese Naboleedahn Neapolitan/someone from Naples piezahn Friend/countryman/brother Pitza-gaina Egg-meat pie Boochach Bitch Rigutt Ricotta cheese Scarole Escarole/Cash money Skutch Pest StuGotz Screw it/F*ck it Vena Ka Come here --Jerry Finzi If you found this post useful, please LIKE it and tell your friends about Grand Voyage Italy. Ciao! Copyright, Jerry Finzi, Grand Voyage Italy, All rights reserved
22 Comments
John Flagello
10/15/2015 04:47:33 pm
A wonderful trip back into my youth.
Jerry Finzi
10/15/2015 04:54:37 pm
John, I'm so glad it had that effect. Some of the stuff I write about here takes me back in time, while other things are laying a path for the future... and more to do with exploring Italy, in Italy itself, or in my own home life. Grazie! And come back often.
Arlene
10/22/2015 08:17:56 pm
Thanks for sharing
beddama
1/6/2022 07:14:29 pm
i dont know any napolitano even though im 100 percent italian blood american lol. I was raised with only sicilian spoken in the house so i had no choice but to be bi lingual with that.but still not literate in italian. this list is so charming because i didnt know both my ancestrial languages were so similar. napolitano is way closer to sicilian than standard italian. its also more easy for me to understand. i have so much difficulty with standard ... i learned spanish so fast. but standard italian is hard because we have " dialect" habits that are so hard to break. often i think the word in dialect is the same word in standard and its not. and people go " oh i guess you arent italian" sicilian was my first language ffs lol. and its not the same!!! i love the italian language family ancestors did not speak tuscan italian which is now standard italian they spoke sicilian, napolitano, and baresi but i only know sicilian. the government and the establishment speaks italian and its a beautiful language but its not the language of my people. where i came from. and these are not dialects or pigons they are languages of the native people of each area of the southern italian penninsula and its islands ext 1/18/2018 01:09:38 pm
Grazie, I enjoyed this. My family came from Alta Villa Irpina, near Avellino. In my house my mother used to call the dish-rag "Mopina." Go to Naples came out as "Ah-fa-Nabbala." Capricola was "Gabrigol." What fun to remember!
Rosalie Marchesi
6/12/2018 06:27:51 pm
This took me a long way back to my youth in Italian East Harlem bringing both laughter and some tearing up. I agree tat eventually the dialect will disappear. It is too bad.
Claire
10/20/2018 04:32:19 am
Hi - I've been trying to find some sort of spelling for an American - Italian slang / pidgin phrase meaning something like 'I got nothin'
Janon
5/2/2019 12:31:59 am
Stugots is "dick"... its literally from questo cazzo (this dick)
Sean Hagan
5/4/2020 09:07:59 pm
My wife often speaks of her father and little phrases she would hear him utter as a child. He used to say to his friends in her hearing: "a fanobalee gotz!" She would laugh and ask him what it meant. He would say "Nothin'. It don't mean nothin'." This is what she believed it meant. I didn't buy it and was compelled to find out. I believe what he meant was "Get the f*** outta here!" So funny. Thank you so much for clarification. She loved it!
Vince Andiorio
8/20/2020 06:38:05 pm
I remember my family calling a boy something that sounds like “wa-LYÓ.” Do you have any idea how that would it’s spelled or where it comes from?
Anthony
1/3/2021 11:59:44 am
Wanione is boy in the Barese dialect
Herbie
5/21/2021 03:15:41 pm
"Guaglione" is the accepted spelling, pronounced as you wrote it, with "w" not "g".
Jerry Finzi
8/25/2020 12:08:29 pm
Cioa, Vince!
Angela Santigate
9/29/2020 05:57:06 pm
Thanks for this. It's giving me that warm fuzzy grandparent vibe. I miss hearing these words so much.
Ottavio
12/16/2020 05:24:40 pm
Dees-Gradseeyad
Karen Mazzone
8/31/2021 03:42:18 pm
I have heard and used all of the above..... very frequently might I add..... Thank you for sharing.
Don Loy (LoIacono)
9/1/2021 02:49:42 pm
Wonderful trip back in time to my childhood. Heard, and used every one of these terms in our house with a Sicilian father and Baraise mother. Pronounced just as you have them here. Thanks.
vito formica
10/23/2021 09:32:43 pm
Mistake.
Tony Rocco
1/15/2022 12:35:54 pm
This is great! So many words my father and his parents said....and ones I still use...I searched "stroons" and that's what lead me here. Thanks again.
Melanie
1/16/2022 12:59:21 pm
What’s the actual spelling of toosaybatz, I laughed so hard when I saw this, it was my Dad’s favorite expression.
Jerry Finzi
3/22/2022 02:57:09 pm
Sorry for the late reply... Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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