In a previous lesson, we talked about the expression a naso, which is used when you don't have the exact facts or measurements, but venture a guess. One way to translate it is "by the looks of things." But here, we look at a different expression that means something similar, but has very different origins. Here, we are taking a rough guess. Italians often say a occhio e croce to mean "roughly," but what does it actually mean?

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The two elements of the expression are occhio (eye) and croce (cross). It starts out with the preposition a (meaning "in the manner of"). It comes from the art or craft of weaving. Sometimes a thread or a piece of yarn breaks off and needs to be repaired. The weaver tries her best to hide the blemish, but has to do it by eye, rather than using the loom mechanically or electrically. She has to fit the thread into the weave by hand. In woven material, the threads are crossed under and over each other, hence the term croce.

The expression, used by many Italians who might not even know where the expression comes from, has come to be understood as "approximately," "roughly," "roughly speaking," or "if I had to guess."

A occhio e croce, però, puoi scegliere tra: concorso in omicidio, tentata truffa, falsa testimonianza.

Roughly speaking, however, you can choose between: complicity in murder, attempted fraud, perjury.

Captions 73-74, Provaci ancora prof! S2E4 L'amica americana - Part 24

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E pensare che io, a occhio e croce, appena l'ho visto, ho detto: a me sembra un cuscino.

And to think that I, if I had to guess, as soon as I saw it, I said: It looks like a pillow to me.

Captions 40-41, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 1 EP3 Un cugino in fuga - Part 4

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Calcolando che sulla terra all'epoca c'erano cinque miliardi di abitanti, la ricerca si restringeva a occhio e croce tra ottocento milioni di persone.

Calculating that on earth at the time there were five billion inhabitants, the search was limited, roughly speaking, to eight hundred million people.

Captions 42-43, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 1

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As in all languages, we might know what something means, but not necessarily why it means that. Now when you hear someone use this bizarre-sounding expression, you will wonder no more. You will get a certain satisfaction of understanding, but also knowing where the expression comes from. Visualizing a loom might help remember.

But we can also use the short form of this expression, a occhio (by eye). It's simple and clear. It is similar to a naso but used in situations where the eyes are the judges.

How many young Italians try to get a recipe from la mamma (their mother), la zia (the aunt), or la nonna (the grandmother), only to find that it's impossible to pin down the quantities or timing because they do it all a occhio (by eye)!

E le quantità? A occhio.

And the quantities? By eye.

Captions 14-15, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP4 Maltempo - Part 5

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Thanks for reading. Send us your comments or questions to [email protected].

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