‘Che caldo, oggi si suda!’

Buondì.

The weather app on my smartphone uses the phrase ‘Che caldo, oggi si suda!’ on days when the temperatures approach 35C (95F).

Thinking about it now, while the meaning is obvious (‘hot’, ‘sweat’), it’s one of those Italian constructions that don’t translate easily into natural-sounding English (“What hot, today one sweats!”)

Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to exceed 35C (95F) by a degree or so. The stock phrase the app uses for the next band up of suffering is ‘Giornata rovente’, no explanation mark required, as Wordreference.com offers ‘red-hot’, ‘fiery’ or ‘scorching’ as translations for the adjective.

It’ll be a ‘giornata rovente’ again on mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì and sabato (note that days of the week and months in italiano aren’t capitalised – neither are languages) but – fingers crossed – on Sunday the hot spell might break, so that day’s forecast is ‘Possibile pioggia’.

In Bologna, where we live, the hottest and most humid summer days sometimes end with a storm and a burst of torential rain. When the kids were small, we’d let them strip off and run around nearly-naked in the parking lot, to cool off.

There’s more rain expected on lunedì and martedì next week, bringing the temperatures way down to an autumnal 22-23C (72-73F) – long trousers and socks weather, at last!

And then, according to the app, the final three days of August will be ‘Caldo, ma non troppo’, which is my favourite. Shorts and sandals, but no need for the fan or air-conditioning.

All this by way of mentioning that over the weekend we were in Toscana, staying in a villa cum hotel in the hills north of Pisa. The hotel had a POOL, and very cooling it was too! Though coming home to ‘Che caldo, oggi si suda!’, several kilos heavier after a weekend of Tuscan cooking, has been a shock.

E poi, it’s Monday, which means writing something…

Oh hang! Below is the link to today’s FREE article, which features more depressing – though educational – events from Italy’s nineteen-twenties.

Still, it’s all good reading/listening practice, right? And it’s FREE.

Episodio 19. Dal governo autoritario alla dittatura fascista

The previous eighteen episodes in this series can be found on our History page, along with the ninety Summer Series articles from previous years. Scroll right down to the end to find the latest ones.

A mercoledì.

P.S.

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