# Fluent in Italian? I could use your services. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846 "2002-04-16T00:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/1 "2002-04-16T00:12:25Z")
OK … here’s the deal: On the X-Files a couple of weeks ago, the music from an album called “Songs for Cabriolets and Otros Tipos De Veiculos” was featured. I hunted it down and ordered it from Amazon. It arrived today, and I **love** it. It’s hilarious … kitcshy, campy, musical fun. I’ve listened to it multiple times today. The only problem is that it’s in multiple languages. I have some training in French and Spanish (two of the languages featured), but know nothing about Italian. My favorite song on the album is called “Io Mammate E Tu”, and it is Italian, I believe, but I can’t make heads nor tails of it. I tried the online translator at Altavista, but it choked on a high number of words, and left enough of it untranslated that I still couldn’t make sense of it. I hope I don’t irritate a mod by doing this, but I’m going to post a portion of the lyrics in the hopes that someone can tell me what it means. It would enhance my enjoyment of the album (though I enjoy it without even knowing the meaning). Here goes: Ti avevo detto dal primo apputamento Di non portar niscuino appresso a te Invece vonn’o frate na sora e nu nepote Solo nun sta’ na vota ascimm sempre a tre E m’hai promess _domani chi lo sa_ vegghi sultanto, sultanto con mamma Io mammate e tu Passiamm ‘pattu ‘llete nui annanzi, E mammate arr’ete Io mammate e tu, sempre appriesso, cosi pazzi ch’esta viene pur’i pur’i o’ viaggo nozze Iammocene a balla ci cerchiammo a c’a squaglia Comi n’u carabiniere che la vena c’affara Ma n’ammurate so’ rassegnate Nun reaggisco piu Io mammate e tu OK … so there it is. That’s not the whole song … just the first verse and chorus. That’s pretty near the exact way it appears in the lyrics booklet … apostrophes included. I omitted a few actual accent marks, but the apostrophes appeared as apostrophes in the lyrics that accompany the CD. (The portion in italics also appears that way in the lyrics booklet.) If it helps … the song is sung by two different men, usually alternating lines, as though they’re speaking to each other. I appreciate any help anyone can give me. Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/2 "2002-04-16T00:46:53Z")
I was gonna recommend [babelfish](http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr), but it butched the hell out of the 1st verse Ti avevo detto dal primo apputamento Di non portar niscuino appresso a te Invece vonn’o frate na sora e nu nepote Solo nun sta’ na vota ascimm sempre a tre E m’hai promess domani chi lo sa vegghi sultanto, sultanto con mamma Into: I had said you from the first apputamento not to carry Instead niscuino near you vonn’ or friar na sora and nu nepote nun sta’ na Only votes ascimm always to three and m’ you have promess tomorrow who knows it vegghi sultanto, sultanto with mother Unless it’s about a diner giving his order to a hard of hearing waiter in a trattoria ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/3 "2002-04-16T04:03:13Z")
I’m not particularly fluent anymore. I can understand very little of it, in fact, only enough to understand that there’s a certain amount of poetic license taken and possibly some misspellings (assuming, of course, that it’s not in dialect) It seems to start : I have said to you from the first appointment not to carry niscuino appresso yourself. Instead you have brother na sister and nu nephew ( i guess it’s supposed to be your sister and your nephew- I’m not sure about the brother sister nephew- the words are actually a little different) You’d probably need to ask someone who’s not only fluent, but who is accustomed to hearing songs or reading poetry in Italian to really understand it ---
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/4 "2002-04-16T08:06:38Z")
This seems to be a mid-penninsular dialect, probably Tuscan or thereabouts. I’m fluent in “standard” Italian and conversant in the Reggiano-Emilano dialect. I can make out about 85% of the meaning of this excerpt. ---
**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/5 "2002-04-16T13:09:50Z")
I appreciate all the efforts thus far. It originally was just a curiosity, but now I have to admit it’s driving me up the wall! **doreen** , good point about finding someone familiar with Italian songs and poetry. **Neurodoc** , will you give me your 85% understanding of the song? Again … thanks to all of you – and keep it coming. OH – while I’m at it, something that has struck me funny from this album: There’s another song called _Inouï_, and it’s in French. One of the lines is “Tu es belle comme une pasteque en plastique.” As far as I can translate, this comes out to be **"You are beautiful like a plastic watermelon."** Anyone know if that’s a colloquialism with a specific meaning? Or is it to be taken literally? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/6 "2002-04-16T16:35:16Z")
I asked my dad, who is from Friuli (the northeasternmost region), to translate the first verse. His reponse: > [@](#): > > Yes, it’s mostly dialect (from the South, of course): > > I had told you on our first date > not to bring anyone with you > Instead (you came) with your brother > sister and a nephew/niece > We are never alone together > always three > And you have promised me that maybe tomorrow > who knows > you’ll come alone (or only) with your mother > > (That’s the closest I can get). I’ll ask him to translate the second verse. ---
**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/7 "2002-04-16T19:51:37Z")
**gallows fodder** , you are my new hero! Well, you _and_ your dad. 😉 Thanks so much – and if you get really ambitious, I’ll send you the rest of the song. Thanks again – looking forward to the next word from your dad. ---
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/8 "2002-04-18T03:36:02Z")
GallowsFodder has got it right down. I’d ask GF to translate the second stanza, as I couldn’t do any better. I misplaced the dialect…it sounded central Italian to me, but I guess it could be more southern. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/9 "2002-04-22T12:45:41Z")
**PRNYouth** , my dad has gotten back to me regarding the chorus: > [@](#): > > My colleague, Maria Teresa, recognized the song right away as being one by famous Neapolitan singer-composer Renato > Carosone (which I played a few times for you when you were kids, although I don’t remember this one in particular). > > She says she has it on an old CD… and that you did not copy the words correctly. Anyway, here goes a tentative English translation: > > I, mother and you, > go for a slow walk, > we in front and mother close behind… > I, mother and you, always close behind > so crazy that she’ll follow us > even on our honeymoon… > Let’s go dancing > and let’s try to get away > like a policeman who comes to get her (?) > But I am in love, and I resign myself, > I don’t care anymore > I, mother and you. So there you have it! I tried doing a Google search on the title (which is actually “Io, Mammeta, e Tu,” not “…Mammate…”), but couldn’t find any translation into English. Maybe someone else will have better luck? ---
**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluent-in-italian-i-could-use-your-services/103846/10 "2002-04-22T13:10:09Z")
**gallows fodder** , again, thanks SO much – to you and your father. Thanks for the correction on the title, too – I’ve been able to find some more resources with that correction. It doesn’t surprise me that the lyrics in the booklet (and the title on the CD listing) are wrong – the couple of songs in English have several mistakes in their lyrics, too. Anyway, thanks again – now when I listen to the song, I’ll enjoy it even more. Thanks!