Match the Sicilian proverbs 1 - 6 with their meanings a - f: [Where there is a very similar proverb in English, I have used this as the translation.]
1. Contra furtuna nun vali sapìri
2. Nun mèttiri lu carru davanti li voi.
3. L'amuri è come lu citrolu, 'ncumincia duci e finisci amaru.
4. Donna, focu e mari fannu l'omu piriculari.
5. La podagra è mali di li ricchi.
6. Frati, ciumi e parrini su' tri mali vicini.
a. Love is like the cucumber, it starts off sweet and ends up bitter.
b. Gout is a rich man's illness.
c. Knowledge is no protection against the caprices of fortune.
d. Don't put the cart before the horse.
e. Monks, rivers and priests are three bad neighbours.
f. Women, fire and the sea expose men to danger.
Highlight below for answers:
1c, 2d, 3a, 4f, 5b, 6e.
15 comments:
I'd give those a shot, but my brain has already gone to sleep for the night.
6/6 again. Do you speak Sicilian Welshcakes? I must say everyone spoke Italian to me in Sicily but perhaps they use it with each other.
Buongiorno, Welshcakes - can never resist a quiz! Here we go ...
1) c
2) d
3) a
4) f
5) b
6) e
Amities de Nice - P
This is fun!
3a is the easy one
1c
4f
2d (li voi=horses?)
5b
so 6 must be e but I don't know why they should be bad neighbours!
Thanks for coming over anyway, Nick. Well done, jmb. No, I can understand a lot of the dialect but I don't speak it. I know which endings tend to change and a lot of it is simikar to Spanish and guessable. Eceryone speaks Italian to me except one elderly nrighbour and the water man at times but I can work out what they are saying. It's the older people who tend to use the dialect to each other. Buona sera, Phidelm. 100%! Well done and amitiés to you. Hi, WW. 100% as well. Complimenti! Because monks might come round begging, rivers can flood and priests might come round and eat all your food! "Voi" here is dialect for "buoi" = oxen. The b and v sounds are very close,as in Spanish.
I got them Woo hoo! Love and cucumbers? Err I think I will go no further!
I gave it a try and got them ALL CORRECT!!! It helps to know a couple of other Romance languages.
e) What about nuns?
Bravo, jams! You do make me laugh! Well done, Leslie. Yes, that does help. I'll try to find one about nuns for you next time, James!
Love is like the cucumber, it starts off sweet and ends up bitter.
Cucumbers feature quite a bit in relations, don't they?
And would they be smooth Sicilian cucumbers or ridged, British ones, James?
I will use these sayings in conversation!
Good idea, Miss B!
Welshcakes, my imagination ran wild with the cucumber saying, but then I completed reading the sentence.:)
My mother had a saying:
'Men are like onions. It does not matter if they are white, brown or red ... they all make you cry.'
Brilliant, Ardent! Your Mum was right!
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