Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday's False Friend

mess v. messa

In English, a mess is a disorderly, cluttered, and often dirty condition. In Italian, la messa is a public celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church: our English word, Mass. No Italian would forgive you for associating her messa with a mess. That would border on offensive. Use the words confusione or casino when translating from English.

Eng) The construction of the new building across the street is causing a mess.

It) La costruzione del nouvo edificio dall'altra parte della strada crea della confusione.

2 comments:

  1. Ciao Irene! This is great! Do you do this Friday False Friend every week? It's a great idea, and I look forward to learning more! Grazie!

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  2. Yes, I do these every week but missed last week-my schedule was too hectic. Enjoy!

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