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From: bruno@ecf.toronto.edu (Bruno DiStefano)
Subject: "mal n'aggia" (was Re: Mannaggia)
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References: <4b90fs$so4@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk> <jktaberDKA02K.8n3@netcom.com> <4buuh0$45n@portal.gmu.edu> <4bv0qm$80o@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 04:29:33 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu sci.classics:9993 sci.lang:47269

In article <4bv0qm$80o@dg-rtp.dg.com>,
Ed Hopkins  <hopkins@dg-rtp.dg.com> wrote:
>scarlso1@osf1.gmu.edu (Stephen C Carlson) wrote:
>> jktaber@netcom.com (John K. Taber) writes:
>>>Stephen C Carlson (scarlso1@osf1.gmu.edu) wrote:
>>>: Mannagia la miseria!  Colpa mia!  
>
>>>I haven't heard "mannagia" since childhood. Please, what does it
>>>mean in English?
>
>>The meaning I've understood for "mannaggia" (sorry for the misspelling)
>>is the one I picked up on soccer fields in Rome during my youth: it
>>is a mild expletive, much like "curses" or "shoot" often uttered after
>>missing a wide-open shot.
>
>Here's the entry in the collaborative Alternative Italian Dictionary at
>http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Italian.html :
>
>mannaggia! 
>   damn!, for goodness sake! 
>    Commonly heard in Rome to express impatience or disappointment. 
>
>But that still doesn't explain what it means.  I've renamed the thread
>and cross-posted to soc.culture.italian to see if we can get an answer.
>
>-- Ed Hopkins
>Alfredo1@aol.com
>

Interesting thread. I normally don't have time to read this
group, but the Xmas vacation.....

"mannaggia" <--> "mal n'aggia" <--> "che gliene venga male"

I would translate it in English, literally, as "may something 
bad happen (to him/her)". Of course, "damn" is a better 
translation.

I have been born and raised in Rome (50s & 60s), but I don't
think that this is Roman dialect. It sounds more southern to
my ear, even if it could be archaic Italian. It is used by
Manzoni in the 1800s ("Mannaggia la furia!"), in a 1600s 
setting, in a Spanish dominated location.

Bye

	Bruno

-- 
-- Bruno Di Stefano ---------------- Private:     au843@freenet.toronto.on.ca
Courses: stefano@ecf.toronto.edu     Professional:      bruno@ecf.toronto.edu
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