Sicilian phrases funny9/13/2023 “Lettu di Duminicani, tavulu di Cappuccini, lussu di Biniottini” – “The Domenicans for a bed the Capuchins for food and the Benedictines for luxury”. And if you have to ask the monks for charity, this is where you should go: There are as many proverbs about priests, monks and nuns as there are about women and we are often warned that a priest will always turn up where there is food. “ Cuannu ‘a fimmina camina e u’ culu ci abballa, si nun è buttana, falla” – “A woman who sways her hips when she walks is a whore or nearly one.” “Cui nun ha maritu, nun ha nuddu amico” – “She who has no husband has no friend”.Īnd I‘ll leave you to make up your own minds about this Modican saying: This idea, as well as a traditional view of the family, could also be behind this one: Here we have an assumption that women belong in the house, perhaps, but also a rather charming notion that a woman needs to be protected. “La donna e la gaddina si perdi si troppu cammina” – “Women and hens get lost if they wander too far”. The implication here is that, if you do, you might be deceived and I just love the way in which the woman is considered along with a household object. “ Fimmine e tila ‘un si ‘nn’accàttanuu di sira” – “Don’t choose a woman or a fabric in dim light”. There are also many proverbs about farm animals and, in some cases, they seem to have the same value as women!Īsini, donni e voi, nun t’alluntanari di li toi” – “Don’t go far away from your donkeys, women and oxen”.Īt the risk of losing my feminist credentials, I’ll quote a few more proverbs about women: “Cu’ havi ‘na bona vigna, havi pani, vinu e ligna” – “He who has a good vineyard will have bread wine and wood”. The importance of the vineyard is stressed: “Bonu vinu fa bonu sangu” – “Good wine makes good blood”. Others are about food and there are a lot which tell you which foods you can eat in abundance without doing yourself harm and that wine, in moderation, is necessary: “A San Franciscu si simìna lu pitrusinu” – “On St Francis Day sow parsley”. In the many books of Sicilian proverbs available here, all are translated into standard Italian anyway.Īs in all agricultural lands, many sayings are about seasons and weather and some tell the farmer when to plant certain crops: The proverbs are all in various forms of dialect but usually I can work them out from my French and Spanish and if I can’t, I ask a friend to explain them. “Pazienza”, that eternal Sicilian virtue, is, of course, there too. These sayings show a wry sense of humour, a healthy cynicism about the pretentious and, as you would expect of a people who have suffered countless invasions, sometimes a mistrust of new people and ways. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.Italian proverbs are fun in general but Sicily has its own, unique collection with some, just like certain dishes, belonging to a particular town or even village. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice.
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