Both words we want to talk about in this lesson have to do with the root word tono (tone). It means pretty much the same thing in both languages.

Ora delle due è una: o mi sta raccontando una balla adesso o mi ha preso in giro sin dall'inizio. Questo tono con me! Si rende conto che questa è insubordinazione?

Now it's one of the two: Either you're bullshitting me now, or you've been giving me the runaround from the beginning. This tone with me! Do you realize that this is insubordination?

Captions 13-16, Il Commissario Manara S1EP8 - Morte di un buttero - Part 12

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We use the words  tono and "tone" a lot in music, too. Un tono is a whole tone or whole step of a scale. In Western music, for example, we have a series of whole tones and semi tones — toni e semitoni — that make up a particular musical scale. 

Remaining in the realm of music, the verb intonare can mean "to start singing." 

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When someone sings the right notes, with accurate relationships between the notes, we can say this person is intonato  or  intonata (in tune). He or she has good intonazione (intonation). 

When the opposite happens, when someone is not singing in tune, he is stonato, she is stonata. So once again, we have the S prefix that transforms a word into one with an opposite meaning. If this use of S at the beginning of a word is unfamiliar to you, check out this lesson. 

In the example below, Martino, the guitarist, hears a woman singing onstage. He complains:

Ma quella è stonata.

But she's out of tune.

Caption 4, Chi m'ha visto film - Part 2

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In Italian, we often use the verbs intonare and stonare or their past participles, intonato and stonato in a figurative way, or in referring to colors and designs, anything, really. In the example below, it's used with a reflexive si.

La sua maglietta non si intona col mio rossetto e quindi Le metto sette.

Your t-shirt doesn't harmonize with my lipstick, and so I'm giving you a seven.

Caption 92, L'Italia a tavola Interrogazione sulla Liguria

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In this next example, an acquaintance of the famous film directors, the Taviani brothers, is describing how they were and how they worked together. 

Erano sempre, ehm, eleganti, se si può dire la parola usata in maniera e... appunto non manierata, ma in maniera intonata no, sempre intonati, ecco.

They were always, uh, elegant, if one can use the word used in a manner and... just that, not mannered, but in a manner — harmonious, right? Always harmonious, that's it.

Captions 45-49, Fratelli Taviani La passione e l'utopia - Part 8

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In a recent episode of Meraviglie, Alberto Angela uses the verb stonare figuratively, imagining what kind of play could be performed in the piazza of Lecce, a piazza that is reminiscent of a theatrical stage. 

Tutto sembra disposto e ornato per un lieve gioco teatrale. Una commedia di Goldoni non vi stonerebbe.

Everything seems set up and decorated for a lighthearted play. A Goldoni play would not be out of place here.

Captions 9-10, Meraviglie S2 EP3 - Part 7

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So we can use stonare to mean "to clash," "to go together poorly." 

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Another noun, stemming from tono, is sintonia, which is used quite a bit in Italian when talking about people who are on the same wavelength, who seem to be in sync. For example, when two people are thinking the same thing at the same time.

Loro due sono in sintonia (Those two are attuned to each other, they're on the same wavelength).

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There's a movie on Yabla about a musician who wants to make it as a singer, but is not succeeding.

His agent tells him to take a break from performing, and to soften the blow, says that although Martino's music making is all right, he doesn’t have the presence necessary for performing on stage.

Here's what the agent says:

Sì, la musica ancora ancora sta, ma è la faccia, "the face" [inglese: la faccia]. È questa...

Yes, your playing is maybe all right, but it's the face, the face. It's this..

Caption 36, Chi m'ha visto - film

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A reader has written in asking if the double instance of the adverb ancora was a mistake or not. It’s a good question, and we’ll try to answer it.

We have learned from Daniela's lessons about comparatives and superlatives that, in addition to using più or the suffix -issimo to form the superlative of adjectives and some adverbs, we can also simply repeat the word twice. So we have bellissimo or bello bello. They mean the same thing, although the double adjective or adverb is used primarily in spoken Italian. Read this lesson about it!

So, we have this word ancora. It’s already the source of a little confusion because it means different things in different contexts. 
We've looked at this before and there's a lesson about the different meanings of ancora. 

Let’s give the word a quick review here.

In the following example, ancora means "even."

Così puoi capirmi ancora meglio.

That way, you can understand me even better.

Caption 27, Italian Intro - Serena

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And In this example, ancora means "still". "Still" and "even" can often be interchangeable, as in these two examples.

E ancora oggi siamo molto amiche.

And still today we're very close friends.

Caption 39, Erica e Martina - La nostra amicizia

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È ancora vivo.

He’s still alive.

If we put it in the negative, non ancora means "not yet."

Non è ancora morto.

He's not dead yet.

In the example that follows, ancora means “more.”

Ne vuoi ancora? -Eh?

Do you want some more of it? -Huh?

Caption 32, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo

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And ancora can also mean simply, “again.”

Va be', comunque io ti ringrazio ancora per i biglietti,

OK, in any case, I thank you again for the tickets,

Caption 67, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro

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So this adverb has different meanings that are somewhat related. They have to do with time or quantity and can mean “still,” “again,” “yet” with non (not), “more,” or “even.”

But in this movie, it’s repeated twice, and here, it has a particular, colloquial meaning. It means we are on the borderline of something. Ancora ancora means we're at the limit. We're on the line, even though we haven't stepped over it. Something can pass.

So Martino’s agent is saying, “Your playing is good enough,” and might even be implying  “it’s passable.”  Here, it’s followed by ma (but), so it's clear that something else isn't passable. "Your playing is passable, but your face isn’t." 

There are other adverbs that lend themselves being doubled for effect:

Poco poco to mean just a tiny bit.
Piano piano to mean really soft, really slow.
Appena appena to mean faintly, barely.

Sometimes the doubling takes on a special meaning that has evolved over time, as in the case with ancora ancora.

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Quasi quasi is another adverb like this. Literally, it means almost almost, but that makes little sense. For more on quasi quasi, see this lesson about it. Here's an example to give you the basic idea. Let's say I've been debating in my mind whether to have another helping, but then decide and say:

Quasi quasi, ne prendo ancora.
I might just have some more.

If you're not yet a subscriber but seriously thinking about it, you could say,

Quasi quasi mi iscrivo a Yabla.
I might just sign up for Yabla.