BrowsingRome Blogging about my experiences and sharing my thoughts about Rome, Italy and beyond
Formal Italian language sometimes puzzles me and the perfect example of this was the recent phrase that has got worldwide attention: Vada a bordo cazzo (Get back on board, damn it!). So much so that the t-shirts with these wording are becoming a hit.
Most are familiar with this quote and if you are not, here is some background information on this before explaining why formal Italian language baffles me.
These words were said by the coast guard officer to the Captain of the Costa Concordia, the cruise liner that was capsizing, when he found out that the Captain had abandoned ship while passengers were still onboard. The coast guard, rightly so, demanded that the captain vada a bordo cazzo.
Source: MarshallRamsey.com
Formal language in Italian is used when addressing people you meet for the first time, strangers, some one older and some one you respect. At least, that’s my understanding.
Vada is the formal imperative form for the verb “andare” which means “to go”. The informal use of this verb would be the “tu” or you form which is “Vai”.
So here’s what gets me.
More than once, I have heard Italians argue with strangers all using formal language. I mean if you are screaming at the person and swearing at them, why even bother using formal language. After all, you have no respect for the person so just give them the “tu” or informal you form!
That’s my two cents on formal Italian. In general, I do use formal language when addressing strangers but fortunately I am not fluent enough in Italian to have an argument yet. That said, my commitment this year is to bring be more fluent with the Italian language.
Is there anything that puzzles you about the Italian language?
Hahhaa so I’ve never had formal Italian training, however on occasion I’ll pick up my phrasebook and use it on my boyfriend. He will then complain that I am speaking to him like a stranger because its formal. Can’t win.
Learning as I go- my Italian was pretty fluent by the time I left so I have to brush up since bf and I always switch to English after a few minutes- cazzo.
Yeah the phrasebooks are all in formal hahaha!! I am still trying to be fluent because I only speak English with my husband and his family. They are fluent in English but even from day one before we moved here, we always communicated in English. Also, it’s easier for me but doesn’t help at all!!
Hi Diana,
Love your post on Italian grammar and how elegantly you avoided to further describe the word cazzo!
For non native speakers the Italian grammar is a nightmare, specially when having to deal with hoity-toity Italians. Fortunately, we mostly stay in the countryside and there is less formal language used. My mother-in-law was from Tuscany and you can imagine how I was treated by her whenever I made a mistake. She was a great cook though, enough said!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here!
Italian grammar really is tough to master. Everyone says you know a lot of words but try putting them coherently in a sentence using the right grammar structure – it’s a whole different thing altogether 🙂
I didn’t feel it was necessary to describe cazzo as my intention was to highlight formal language haha. Also, while I am aware of these words, I try to minimize the use as I am often around students and children and not making it part of my language, I won’t slip by mistake 🙂
Interesting! Of course I had read the phrase and I understood it but didn’t make the link to formal.
I only just started learning the language and don’t live in Italia so there’s still a lot to learn.
But I spent most of my school holidays in childhood in Italy *and* I’m quite fluent in French so that helps a lot. I love the language though. And love this post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Cessie, I wrote this up because it was a perfect example of using formal when in a heated discussion and this puzzles me:) I am impressed you are learning the language. I have lived here almost 6 years and can only manage basic conversations in Italian. It doesn’t help that I speak English with husband and his family!!
hahaha…
i love that you’ve written about this. i love that the Italian language has this polite form, but i hate the cultural rationale behind it. the fact that you have to be nice/formal to someone to get them to do their job in Italy is ridiculous. the whole “the customer is always right” does not exist in Italy. i recall a friend having some bank card troubles while overseas and when she called her bank to sort it out she spoke in this over the top, courteous manner as if she was disturbing the customer call centre and had made a huge mistake. not the bank!!! unheard of!!
i find another good example of this ‘polite command’ is when you’re a guest at an Italian home. the hostess will probably forcefully say “Mangia! Mangia!”.
What’s really interesting was something that happened a few days after I had written this post. There was a meeting and two people were using informal language with one another. As the meeting progress, things started to get touchy and eventually as the discussion got heated, they started using formal “Lei” with one another. Go figure that! I think they started using formal so as to say “you can’t say I have been disrespectful” because I used the Lei form.