George Bernard Shaw used to say: “England and America are two countries separated by the language”. Which means more troubles for Italians learning English. Here few American and British words translated into Italian.
Jamiroquai is a Grammy Award-winning English band. The bandleader and singer Jay Kay became so famous that most of the fans thought he was a solo artist named Jamiroquai. But which is the origin of the name? Jamiroquai is a blend of Jam session and Iroquois, a Native Indian American from the Iroquois tribe to whom Jay Kay feels very close philosophically speaking. (May 6, 2008)
Verona, Romeo and Juliet town, just hosted Vinitaly (April 3-7), the largest wine show in the world. Thousands of exhibitors came from more than 30 countries and about 150,000 visitors appreciated guided wine-tastings, presentations and conferences about the best wines in the planet. Here, few clues about Italian red wines: Sangiovese is one of the most common wine-grapes cultivated in Italy. You can see this kind of vineyard, vigneto, in all the area that goes from Romagna to Campania. Sangiovese is the pride of Toscana. From this variety derive such wines as Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Nobile di Montepulciano. In the North, in Piemonte, we find Nebbiolo vineyards from which they produce also the great Barolo.In the same area, most of the hillsides are covered of Barbera vines, considered one of the classic red Italian wines. (April 9, 2008)
The Rothschilds are one of the most famous families of bankers. Of German origin, their empire began between 1700 and 1800 and spread all over Europe. That's the reason you can pronounce their name in German, Rothschild (GER), in English, Rothschild (UK) or in French, Rothschild (FR), according to the branch of the family you are referring to. (March 25, 2008)
For everybody he's Maniche, but the pronunciation of this pseudonym is incorrect. Even the very Atlético Madrid footballer, currently playing on loan for Inter Milan, fed up of rectifying it, decided to go for it. Nuno Ricardo Oliveira Ribeiro, born in Lisbon, received his nickname after Benfica's 1980s legendary Danish forwardMichael Manniche. And in Danish, the nickname should be pronounced. (February 19, 2008)
Henri Beyle, the famous French writer chose as his penname Stendhal. Yes, as you hear it: French pronunciation, not German. In spite of what is commonly believed, it’s not certain that he borrowed his pseudonym from the German city of Stendal in honour of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, an archaeologist born there. According to some Stendhal scholars, the name is the anagram of Shetland, the Scottish islands. A place Stendhal loved very much. At a certain point, anyway, even Stendhal himself didn’t know how to pronounce properly his name, that’s why the French way prevailed.
You already know that we are receiving hundreds of pronunciation requests and we are late in dealing with them. The missing part was the reason of this sudden need for correct pronunciations: it was enough to be on Barbara Palombelli La Posta del TG5, on December 23, 2007. Watch the video. (January 14, 2008)
Everybody knows that Chow Chow is a breed of dogs originating from China, but only a few are familiar with the fact that the name is the result of a misunderstanding.
When the first dogs were shipped from China to England, in 18th century, they arrived in crates marked chow chow, Chinese pidgin English for miscellaneousmerchandise. At the arrival, everybody simply assumed that Chow Chow was the name of those dogs. (January 3, 2008)
