Buondì.
In Wednesday’s article I mentioned a rude gesture from Dante.
However, being British not Italian, I admit to not being an expert on gestures, except for the one with the middle finger, of course.
What’s more, I was in rather a rush that day, and failed to properly research the subject, which I have now done…
So, the ‘Dante gesture’, otherwise known as the ‘Gesto delle fiche’ (I got that part right, at least) is illustrated on this page. Best not show the pre-schoolers that one.
Whereas the one I was thinking of can be seen at minute 2:55 of this video and is described as ‘Che vuoi?’
Go straight to that part if you’re pushed for time as the voiceover at the beginning of the video is quite hard to follow ( scroll to minute 2:55 ). From that point on, do watch a while – the actress is really good!
For anyone interested in gestures, some Italian teacher actually wrote a book about them and has done the obligatory series of YouTube videos to promote it.
Be warned: he’s included just about every possibility, so the videos are quite long. Take a look at the first one, if you have time – see how many of them you already know…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTzU971Y9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEhLURFsfSg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Br2-K8UaA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyEQduTwbNM&feature=related
So there. Hope that makes up for Wednesday’s inattention.
No? Ma cosa vuoi?? [Gesto delle fiche]
The Autum/Fall Sale is looming: get off the list!
Next week there’s the Autumn/Fall Sale at our online shop, EasyReaders.org, which means 20% off everything – ebooks, online Italian lessons, the works!
I’ll be emailing daily to remind regular students to stock up on lesson credits and to persuade people who aren’t yet studying with us to give it a go, while it’s cheaper!
Don’t want to buy ebooks and/or online Italian lessons? That’s no problem – just ignore the sales pitch and use the many free resources at https://onlineitalianclub.com/ and https://easyitaliannews.com/.
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It takes just a few seconds to remove your email from the club’s mailing list – there’s an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every emailed article. In the footer of the email, you’ll see this:
Daniel
OnlineItalianClub.com
Tregarth
The Gounce
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Click on the Unsubscribe option (not the one above, the one at the bottom of this email…) and you’ll get a page that looks like this:
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Of course, that way you’ll miss the Autumn/Fall Sale…
P.S.
Almost forgot! More Dante: Canto XXVI
In which Dante meets Ulysses. Gotta be worth a look see.
The whole series is on our Literature page.
A lunedì, allora!
Alan K says
I don’t recall where I read this, but if you want a British(ish) connection to the first-mentioned gesture I believe that you’ll find it in Romeo And Juliet. Specifically, the inspiration for the “are you biting your thumb at us, sir” scene is reputed by some at least to be that gesture. As we know, but too many visitors to Verona (where I will be next week) don’t, Romeo and Juliet are an entirely English (one cannot say “British” given the time period) and entirely fictional creation.