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Sciuè Sciuè from French ‘Echouè

The French domination has released many traces of its memory in the Neapolitan dialect. One of these traces is the way to say“sciuè sciuè”.

According to some linguists, the expression derives from the French past participle ‘Echouè which means “to fail, not to succeed”. And in fact in Neapolitan Sciuè Sciuè means precisely “to do something in a hurry”, “to do something superficially”. But this play on words does not have a negative meaning, on the contrary, it replaces negative thinking with a smile.

If in Naples you say Sciuè Sciuè surely you are not talking about something unfinished, but you are saying that something has been completed, in an approximate way. The positive side of the expression lies precisely in the fact that the work was carried out to the end, even if the smallest details were not taken care of.

Life runs fast and we all know that it’s impossible to take care of all the things we would like to do. Here, therefore, that the Neapolitan promises himself to do what he set out to do and also superficially, in order to obtain a result. The negativity of the French verb is therefore overcome on the positive side. From an optimistic point of view.

Was it impossible to do that thing? Well, I did it quickly, but I still did it. And perhaps it has done even better than planning actions.

Because things done quickly can be better than those done in time.

The will to achieve a goal make everything more special.

When is it that Neapolitans use sciuè sciuè? Let’s make 3 examples…

First of all when they have to cook. Sciuè sciuè is mainly used when cooking spaghetti with garlic and oil “aggio fatto ‘e spaghetti aglio e uoglio sciuè sciuè”. Or when we are late and have to get dressed quickly. The Neapolitan says: Don’t look at my clothing ‘cause this morning I dressed sciuè sciuè. And even when we have an important appointment, but first we have to clean at home, then we Neapolitans say “Aggio fatto ‘na passata ‘nterra e ‘ngopp ‘mobili sciùe sciuè ” : I washed the floor and the furniture quickly.

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Papiéllo from Spanish Papel and French Papier

Ma che è ‘stu papièllo?… What is this papièllo?

A typical phrase of the Neapolitans who find themselves having to read a document full of words difficult to understand. The Papièllo, in fact, in Neapolitan means mainly “document”. It derives from two foreign words: from the Spanish “Papel” and from the French “Papier”. Both words mean, in their respective languages, paper. And Paper is also intended as a document.

But the papièllo in Neapolitan is not only a written document. It can also be only oral.

It can be, for example, a wording on an ancient building, perhaps in Latin. Or a set of information, a decalogue of rules posted inside a civil building. In short, for the Neapolitan the papièllo is something to read or to say that it is really long.

By this we do not mean that Neapolitans do not like to read, on the contrary they will be happy to read a papièllo, provided that they are given the opportunity to make irony.

We know, at this point, that Neapolitan language needs to irony everything. It has to do it to play down, to make a conversation nice and above all to put the interlocutor at ease. To be ironic about something or a situation makes the situation itself lived in a way to read.

So, when a Neapolitan has to read a very long document, then, he announces to the listeners, or even to himself, that that document is a papièllo. Thus he uses the word papièllo to play down and say aloud: “We are ready to face a boring, long but necessary reading”.

But the papièllo can also appear in an informal, family conversations that do not concern official documents. For example, if a child of a Neapolitan family writes a letter to his grandfather for his grandparents’ party or for Christmas, it may happen that he becomes an object of irony on the part of his family. Let’s take an example. It’s Christmas and Carmine, a Neapolitan child, wrote a nice letter for his grandparents to thank them for the gift they made him find under the Christmas tree. The boy puts the letter under his grandfather’s pasta dish and, as soon as all the family members sit at the table, he says to his grandfather: “Look what’s under your plate”. Grandfather will find his grandson’s letter and start reading it. At that moment he will say in front of everyone: “Let’s read this little papièllo who wrote Carmine”. But he will say that in an ironic and above all affectionate sense, because he knows that his grandson is good at school and has written a long but full of love letter.

Let’s take another example. A Neapolitan husband is sent by his wife to do the shopping. The woman wrote her shopping list on a sheet of paper. When the man arrives at the supermarket, he unrolls the sheet and realizes that the list is really long. Then he approaches the shop assistant and asks him, in an almost desperate and compliant tone: “Can you help me, please? My wife gave me the shopping list but it’s a papièllo and I don’t understand anything.”

A typical shopping list that will lead the two lovers to a most certain fight

When the husband returns home, he will probably fight with his wife for forgetting to buy something. And the husband will justify himself by saying: “You gave me to buy a papièllo di roba, “too much stuff” (in this case the word papièllo is accompanied by the word roba, which means stuff), how could I remember everything?”.

So here we go from the irony to the apology. Using words that indicate exaggerated situations can also become, in the Neapolitan language, a form of personal apology for claiming that you are unable to complete a task but certainly not because of an improper fault.

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‘Nciarmà from French (En)Charmer

There are many words of the Neapolitan dialect that derive from other languages and that, once they have entered the Neapolitan, lose or transform their meaning. One of them is ‘Nciarmare. Inciarmare or ‘nciarmare comes from the French verb (En)charmer that in French means to enchant, to amaze. But in Neapolitan it doesn’t mean just that. ‘Nciarmare is a more articulated sort of “arrangiare”. In Naples they say ‘Nciarmà when someone wants to organize something clandestinely or when he wants to organize a plan behind someone’s back.

This verb is also used to indicate gossiping. If two neighbors are on the landing or look out from adjacent balconies, they are sure (if they are gossips) that they will start talking about someone, that is, they will start to ‘nciarmà.

But, we said, that ‘nciarmà is also a more extensive form of “arrangiare”. ‘Nciarmare in fact also refers to the ability of a Neapolitan to organize something, a lunch with friends, or simply the construction of an object, with few tools available but achieving a record goal.

If I am able to ‘nciarmare, I am truly the King of all the genius.

As we have said several times, some words that derive from other languages become in the Neapolitan expression of irony but also of contempt, of pungent criticism. If, for example, a woman is unable to dress well or to match the colors of her clothes, it is certain that the other women (especially the gossips) will tell her that when she dresses, “lei si ‘nciarma”. That is, the woman in question does not know how to dress and that she leaves the house with a style completely inappropriate for the common taste.

Let’s move on to the irony of the male gender. You know, the men in the house are not cookery magicians. And so if a wife who comes home late from work asks her husband to prepare dinner, it is possible that on returning home the woman finds food that she does not think is cooked well. Undercooked, too seasoned, inappropriate on the palate. The Neapolitan wife will then say to her husband: “Cosa hai inciarmato? (What the hell have you did)?”, That is, Cosa hai fatto? Dovremmo mangiare questa schifezza stasera? (Should we eat this junk food tonight?).

And finally we come to an example of pure irony. Two boys who are usually lazy and do nothing from morning to night are surprised by their friends or their parents at home cleaning or building something. A more unique than rare event. Spontaneously then those who discover them will ask with surprise: “What are you doing?” And they will promptly reply: “Stamm ‘nciarmann!”, that is, “we are doing something new and different for us, aware of the fact that it will not be good because we are not used to dealing with household chores. So before criticizing us, know that we ourselves are not appreciating the quality and result of what we are doing.

It therefore seems almost impossible to contrast the dialectic and the genius of the Neapolitan dialect. A language capable of having the answer ready for every single occasion and full of words and topics for every situation.

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Arrangiammoce from French Arranger

How many times French kings have commanded in Naples?

Many and their presence in the Neapolitan city has not only brought politics, monuments and dominant influences. It has above all enriched the Neapolitan dialect with new words. The words that made up the Neapolitan language, as we have already said, are almost all from other languages. One of these passing languages is French. It has left many memories in our dialect. Among these we find the verb Arranger which in Neapolitan becomes Arrangiare (or Arrangiammoce) which means: to manage a difficult situation.

What meaning does this verb take in the Neapolitan? Arrangiammoce it is above all a way of life, a lifestyle that every Neapolitan citizen got from birth. If you have nothing to live with, you need to get by, if you are faced with a difficulty, everyone must be able to get by, if the fate becomes mocking, we must not break down but get by or learn to manage as best we can.

Have you invited many friends to dinner but don’t have enough food to feed them? Here it is enough that a single member of your group utters the word “arrangiammoce” so as to exhort all his friends not to regret the eventuality but to take the moment with the right spirit, so as to make the evening succeed, better than as it should have been in the initial idea. The Neapolitans, in fact, have more fun when they manage than when they organize everything perfectly. Indeed, in reality, the established organization bores the Neapolitan who loves to surprise and surprise.

This way of doing can also fight poverty and even the sense of desolation that surrounds you when you think you don’t have enough resources to be able to continue living. The meaning of this philosophy of life is perfectly explained in the lyrics of the song Arrangiàmmoce from the soundtrack of the Neapolitan theater show C’era Una volta Scugnizzi:

Arrangiàmmoce…

E si ‘a musica è bbòna And if the Music is goo

Ce facìmmo purtà We will be brought

Ce astrignìmmo ‘o cazóne we tighten our trousers

E tirammo a campà and we keep going

E cammina cammina and walk on, walk on

Pecché ‘a rròbba ce sta because the stuff is there

E sta pure vicino and it’s also close to you

E se trova si ‘a saje truvà And you will find it only if you can

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Sanfasò from French Sans Façon

There are so many words of the Neapolitan language that even the Neapolitans themselves cannot pronounce correctly. One of these is the word “sanfasò”. In reality sanfasò is not a real word, it is above all a way of doing a thing, an expression that indicates the sloppy way in which something is performed. A synonym of sanfasò in the Neapolitan language is the verb “arronzare” which means performing a task without obligation.

Sanfasò comes from the French phrase Sans Façon which in Italian means “alla buona” or “alla meglio”.

As we said before, many words of the Neapolitan dialect are incorrectly pronounced even by the Neapolitans. Most citizens of Naples say sanfasò like this: “sonfrasò”, or “alla sonfrasò”. This happens because often the speaker of the dialect does not know what certain words refer to, does not know where they derive from and above all cannot write them.

But when is it that the Neapolitans pronounce the word sanfasò? Especially when something is not done well. In every Neapolitan house, for example, every time you have to make a bed in the morning, a battle arises between mothers and children. If the son volunteers to make his own bed, or worse, he wants to make his parents’ bed, it is more than obvious that the mother on duty will reproach him for not having made the bed well and will tell him: “look what you’ve done, you always do things ‘alla sanfasò'”.

A typical bed done at sanfasò

If, on the other hand, we are hanging out with our friends, it may happen that a friend of our crew is made fun of for being a guy who does things without particular attention. It therefore happens that if on a Saturday night it is up to him to drive the car to take friends around, he can be told this phrase: “As usually you do things without sense. You parked alla sanfasò”.

Parking at sanfasò

And more. If at home we find ourselves having to cook, we who know nothing about cooking, it is almost certain that the classic Neapolitan grandmother will make fun of us by saying: “Today you cook? Then we certainly eat at Sanfasò”.

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ABBASCIO that means DOWN

 

This time we’re talking about the word Abbàscio. 

In Italian it means giù (Down There). In the neapolitan language it comes from many languages like Spanish, Catalan, French and Portuguese. Abbascio is the product of the words abajo, a baix and en bas. 

In Napoli Abbascio is a word that can be used in different contexts. It mainly means down, that down to the building where you live. “Corri, ce sta ‘o pustino abbascio (run, there is the postman down)”. This is the typical phrase that your mother yells at you when the postman arrives at your house and you must also go down in your pajamas to go and sign a letter.

But abbascio also means the place of an appointment. “Ce vedimm abbascio addu te domani (see you down to your place tomorrow)”. Abbascio is therefore also that typical place, the usual place where you meet with friends. And it can be either the door of the palace of a friend, or a square, a street, a wall where everyone passes and it is easy to be able to make an appointment.

Dante plaza, the most common place to meet with friends in Napoli.

Naples is a city divided by neighborhoods, by traditions and ways of living. It contains many cities within one city. Citizens of the upper part of the city usually say the word abbascio when they want to talk about the neighborhoods that are located in the flat area. I’m talking about the neighborhoods of the historic center, the most famous ones. A citizen of the upper districts of Naples often says “vaco abbascio Napoli” to say that he is traveling (by funicular or subway) to the districts of the historic center of Naples. Sometimes abbascio can also be used in a derogatory way since the neighborhoods of the historic center are among the poorest in the city. And so an inhabitant of Vomero (the richest and highest Neighborhood of Naples) quietly says “Sto andando abbascio Napoli” to say: “I’m going to that area that I despise but where I am forced to go for work”.

Vomero neighboorhood.

We have seen in previous articles that the Neapolitan language is able to transform the meaning of a foreign word. Now we have been able to observe that a word that derives from different European languages takes on multiple meanings in the same Neapolitan dialect.

The culture and the freedom of speech of the Neapolitan are still evolving. They constantly change, defying time and traditions, the canons of language and the barriers of perception. 

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Ancient English Familiarity French Greek History Intimacy Italian Language Latin Napoletano Napoli Neapolitan Past Teacher Translation

The words of the ancient Neapolitan. The past remembers the future.

Neapolitan is also a “language in the language”. There are many words of the Neapolitan dialect that are no longer used today. Words that our grandparents used, which once bothered us because they seemed vulgar. We are missing the same words today because they found our identity.

When we were young these words of the past were rough in our ears and we made fun of those who used them. For example, I remember the word Muccaturo which in Italian means handkerchief. This word comes from the Catalan mocador and also from the French mouchoir. The Muccaturo empirically makes the sense of dirt, of that dirt that comes out of your nose. The rheum you emit when you sneeze end up right there, in the cotton handkerchief that was kept in the coat pocket and washed only when it had become unusable. To me the image of the muccaturo was really annoying and I remember that when I was a child it scared me, because I didn’t know how to use it when I had a cold. But it is also true that it was of great help to me, because the tissue (the clinex) irritated my child’s skin. The muccaturo was really useful, practical, perhaps unhygienic but safe and faithful. Today in Naples nobody talks about it. The handkerchief is called ‘o fazzuletto (from italian: fazzoletto) and almost all citizens use the paper handkerchief.

Another word that is part of the old Neapolitan is Crisommola, which in Italian means apricot. Crisommola derives from the Greek χρυσοῦν μῆλον (chrysoûn mêlon = golden fruit), and it is a really strange way to call a fruit. The crisommola is perhaps one of the most beautiful fruits. Sweet, orange, tender and soft. Yet the Neapolitans called it this word, difficult to pronounce and annoying to the ears. Today nobody uses the word crisommola. Almost everyone in Naples says “Albicocc” (from Italian Albicocca). It may happen that some greengrocers want to clarify the terminology, specifying that what they are selling you is just a kilo of crisommola. I’ve always made confusion between orange and apricot. Because in Naples the apricot is called crisommola and the orange purtuall (in the past in Naples the oranges were mainly imported from Portugal). And at lunch and dinner almost all my family corrected me because I did not know how to distinguish between the two fruits. I admit that even today I am very confused and tend to never use these two words. Yet crisommola and purtuallo make better the sense of origin, the roots of the words of the Neapolitan language.

Another old word that always made me smile is Mustacce (which in Italian means baffi ) and derives from the Byzantine Greek moustákion and the French moustache. In Naples, the Mustacce are those very thick baffi, the ones that used people in the 1800s and that made a man a real man. All the men in the old portraits and photos have the “mustacce” and those same men were proud to wear them. Today the Mustacce are confused with the beard and represent a single image of masculinity.

Having mustaches meant being grown up, going from childhood to adolescence.

An adult man absolutely had to have mustaches.

Why is it so important to remember the words of the past? Those words make our story and also help us to understand the present.

It is always said that the past was a better place than the present. I can’t say if this statement is correct but I definitely know that Neapolitan cannot be a language that belongs only to the present. The Neapolitan is the past that always returns, the future that calls the past, the present that exists only thanks to what has been and what will be.

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