When my mother makes a salad she’ll say (in Calabrese [...]]]>

If there’s one thing that Italians have a lot of it’s proverbs… one pops up in pretty much every conversation I have with my parents or any other relative in my family.  We all have our favorites and here are a few of mine:

When my mother makes a salad she’ll say (in Calabrese of course): “na ensalata vuo bella oliata, de sale na pizzicata e de nu pazzu riminata” which basically means: a good salad needs plenty of oil, a pinch of salt and tossed by a mad man.

Photo Credit: Amanda Woodward on Flickr

My father on the other hand loves to say (again in Calabrese): “puru i pulici tenuna tussa” in proper Italian it would be “anche i pulci hanno la tosse” – which literally translates to: Even the fleas have a cough. The basic meaning: Everyone has something to say.

Another one of my favorites Calabrese proverbs is: “u lupu perde lu pilu non lu vizzu” which translates to “a wolf loses its fur not its habits”

Have any favorite Italian proverbs? I would love to hear them!