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Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
Well, I already had "Mierda: The Real Spanish, etc.", so I decided to buy this one. Italian is my mother tongue, so I bought this book to give it to a friend of mine studying Italian. I had to change my mind. The book is plenty of primary-school-level mistakes that, if you are learning Italian, actually makes the book pretty confusing, and that however aren't acceptable in any instruction book, even though about "bad" words. The vocabulary also is very much "regional" (mainly based on the dialect spoken in Tuscany) and so some of the words won't be understood outside that area. It is a pity, because the book about Spanish is pretty good. The book requires to be thoroughly revised by someone with more familiarity with standard Italian to make it worth even its relatively cheap price.
Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
I am italian and I was having a look at the book and I think it is really badly conceived and with so many elementary grammar mistakes. I could find at least 10 errors. For example it is an ELEMENTARY italian grammar rule that the feminine article before a feminine noun gets the apostrophe (un'assatanata) and NOT un assatanata. You say UN'AMICA and not una amica. You san UNO sporcaccione and not un sporcaccione. You say SPUDORATA not spudErata.... Just to mention a few errors... And the translations that he sometimes uses are obsolete: when I see a hunk guy I don't say "uno forte e ben armato" . Give me a break!!!!Mr Delicio did really a poor job, evidently he doesn't really know the slang language really spoken by italian people.
Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
This book does have grammatical errors. In fact, I think a lot of the words were created by the author. However, this book is absolutely hilarious. If you are at all interested in learning the Italian language do not buy this book. If you are at all interested in learning how to say some of the stuff (too nasty to print here) in this book in a different language than buy this book. Have fun with it.
Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
Mr Delicio in his comments state that "Every Italian knows that Dante converted Tuscan into the Italian language." Well, I am sure he won't be able to read the Divina Commedia in an edition without extensive notes. In any case, the errors are misleading and there is a lot of them, I just wonder why, now that is known, somebody knowlegeble in standard Italian cannot review the book and correct its *many* mistakes. I did not understand the remark about the "idioms" of Lecce and Naples, I assume the author knows Italian is the official language in those cities also, or he doesn't?
Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
A woman that is passionately in love with Italy and all things Italian writes this review. This is one of those books that is not necessary but is very entertaining. My darling husband bought this many years ago. However, I have been much more amused with the book than he ever was.The book is subdivided as follows (I have intentionally omitted the titles of the subsections since they are very colorful, which is putting it mildly):1. Basics and Naughty Nuances2. The Four Essentials3. Let's be Creative4. Love and Libido5. Versatile Suffixes6. Anger in Public Places7. Let's Keep it Clean8. For Ladies Only9. Sexual Odds and Ends10. The End (a test)The book covers many different arenas where profanity is useful. Ever wondered how to say "hooker" or that "someone is well endowed" in Italian? These are the sorts of things that are covered in this book. There is even an Italian equivalent of "road hard and put away wet", go figure. I think the most creative insult I saw in this book was "you are a hooker without clients." That one really just made me giggle. Not that I can imagine a situation where I would use that phrase. Another excellent one is "the flesh of an older hooker is more tender than this steak". Only in Italy can they come up with phrases like these. The book also uses many of these words in sentences, for the overachievers in the group.Not everything in this book is rude; some of it is actually useful. They give the Italian for the following phrases that are fit for public consumption:I want you! ********************** Ti amo!I need you! ********************** Ti voglio!I am crazy about you! ************** Sono pazzo per te!You are the only one! ************** Sei l'unico!Without you everything will end! ****** Senza di te tutto finira!If you are looking for a book that has Italian phrases and is entertaining this is the book for you. It won't teach you how to communicate with many people in Italy, but it certainly is enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Now all I need is a good looking red blooded Italian male to practice my new skills with. On second thought never mind, my husband probably wouldn't approve.
Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught in School
I am an Italian-American who discovered this book on the bookshelf of one of my older cousins. It is very amusing; you will finally learn what to say to obnoxious taxi drivers! "Merda" will also teach you some exceedingly crude phrases to use in the throes of passion (although I'm not sure that you should tell your ladylove that she has "the body of a goddess"; she may become alarmed)."Merda" contains some very common universal and regional profanities. Anywhere you go in Italy, they will probably understand what you are saying to them. (No, I am not telling you to go around calling total strangers vulgar names, but at least you'll know what to say if you get a bad waiter.) My family vouches for this; with a Southern Italian grandpa, a Northern Nonna, and a Central mom all living in the same house, one gets exposed to some very colorful language."Merda" is not a terrible book, but it has its fair share of errors. There are numerous article and noun disagreements (there are 6 ways to say "the" in Italian, and this book managed to confuse these articles at least 8 times). The book is not very sturdy at all and I am surprised at the high price. In short, "Merda!" is good for a laugh and to learn some rudimental curses. My advice: borrow it from your older cousin.