When we are judging the merits of what someone is saying, one thing we might say, when it's just a bunch of baloney, is:
Tutto fumo, niente arrosto.
Literally, this means, "all smoke, no roast." A roast refers to meat, so there is also no meat on the bones, although that is a different metaphor.
There are various ways to express this in English, for example:
All talk and no action.
All talk and no walk.
All talk and no trousers.All smoke and no fire. (added by 89 year-old reader)
The basic idea is that il fumo (the smoke) has an odor that might take on the aroma of un arrosto (a roast) on the spit or in the oven, and might seem at first like there is something underneath it, something good to eat, but it actually has no substance. You can't eat the smoke.
Another, more literal way of saying this in Italian is: È tutta apparenza e niente sostanza (it's all appearance, but no substance).
Of course, Italians love food, and un arrosto is one of those items that is traditional fare for il pranzo della domenica (Sunday dinner). For those who like to eat meat, it smells divine as it is cooking.
Oggi [mi ha] promesso arrosto di maiale con patate.
Today she promised me pork roast with potatoes.
Caption 3, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema
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Fumo (smoke) is used in Italian, much as we use it in English, when something goes up in smoke.
Avrebbe rovinato tutto,
He would have ruined everything,
avrebbe mandato in fumo il mio sogno.
he would have made my dream go up in smoke.
Captions 52-53, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso
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Allora va tutto in fumo.
So it will all go up in smoke.
Caption 32, La Ladra - EP. 2 - Viva le spose
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Don't let your Italian studies go up in smoke!
Let's keep in mind, as well, that fumo is also the first person singular of the verb fumare (to smoke).
Non fumo (I don't smoke).
In a recent episode of La Ladra, three great, informal adverbs stand out in three consecutive lines.
Ma quelli non mollano l'osso manco morti!
But those guys never let go of the bone, not even dead.
Magari l'osso di Cicci sono io.
Maybe I am Cicci's bone.
Ma mica solamente l'osso.
But not only the bone, of course.
Captions 35-37, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose - Part 10
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We have already discussed magari (maybe, if ever) and mica (at all), and here is a new adverb. We’ve seen it, here and there, in videos, but now it’s time to do a bit of explaining.
Manco: Originally, it meant meno (less), and was used in expressions such as niente di meno (nothing less) in the variants niente di manco, niente manco, non di manco, non manco(nothing less) and is rarely used today. Its second, more recent meaning, and somewhat related to the first, is used quite a bit. It’s equivalent to neanche (not even) as an abbreviated form of nemmanco (not even).
Manco, meaning neanche, has generally been considered to be bad writing form* and continues, even today, to be used exclusively in informal speech, and in writing that reproduces speech. It’s used more in the south than in the north, and is equivalent to nemmeno, neanche, and neppure (not even).
It’s important to remember that manco is an abbreviation for a word with ne (not, nor) as a sort of prefix, and therefore like mica has a negative meaning, even though it doesn’t exhibit the typical characteristics of a negation.
In the previous episode of La Ladra, the first word is manco!
Manco di Augusto mi posso più fidare.
I can't even trust Augusto anymore.
Caption 2, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose - Part 9
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See how easily it slips into conversation. It’s certainly quicker than saying neanche.
E lo sai che manco a farlo apposta, proprio qui vicino, c'è un negozio, aperto da poco, che vende mozzarella di bufala.
And you know, not even to do it on purpose [by sheer coincidence], right near here, there's a shop, recently opened, that sells buffalo mozzarella.
Captions 46-47, Anna e Marika - La mozzarella di bufala - La produzione e i tagli - Part 1
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Have fun with manco. It’s a word you’ll likely hear more than say, since neanche andnemmeno are more straightforward. Like mica, it’s a strong word, and is used emphatically. When someone uses manco, they mean it. Just imagine someone’s eyebrows going up and their eyes opening wide, as they say, manco morto! as if to say, “you gotta be kidding me!”
*See the Accademia della Crusca, a centuries-old linguistic institution in Italy, now also an online service for questions about the Italian language (articles are in Italian).
In an episode of La Ladra, one word comes up in three different instances, which is used constantly in conversation, but rarely in “proper” writing.
In modern Italian, it is most often used as an adverb synonymous with affatto (at all) or per niente (at all).
Non sarà mica facile, eh, per delle dilettanti come noi.
It won't be at all easy, uh, for dilettantes like us.
Caption 10, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose
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In the previous example, mica could be replaced by affatto or per niente. But mica is much more informal.
Non sarà affatto facile, eh, per delle dilettanti come noi.
It comes from “mica,” the Latin noun for “crumb,” so it has to do with something tiny, and of little importance.
The people from una parola al giorno (a word a day) explain mica nicely:
Parola che come avverbio scivola continuamente nei nostri discorsi a rafforzare le nostrenegazioni (a word that slips, repeatedly, into our conversations and reinforces our negations):
non è mica male (it’s not bad at all)
non mi scoccia mica (it doesn’t put me out at all, it’s no hassle at all)
non è mica uno scherzo (it’s no laughing matter)
To read what else they have to say, see: https://unaparolaalgiorno.it/significato/mica. It’s a great site for learning new words.
As we have seen above, mica is generally used with a negation, but this is often merely implied, as in the following examples. At the same time, it can have the connotation of “by any chance” and/or have the same role as question tags in English.
Mica hai una penna da prestarmi (you wouldn’t happen to have a pen to lend me, would you)?
Ma... mica vorrai aprirlo con questa? -Ci proviamo.
But... you're not thinking of opening it with this, are you? -We'll try it.
Caption 9, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose
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Mica ce l'hai con me?
You don't happen to be mad at me, do you?
You’re not mad at me, are you?
Caption 16, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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Mica l’ho fatto apposta!
I didn’t do it on purpose!
It's not as if I did it on purpose!
Mica is a rather fun word to use. It’s a way of expressing a negation without coming right out and saying it, or reinforcing a negative you are indeed saying. And the more you use it, the more it will slip into your conversation, and the more genuine your Italian will sound.
Yabla... mica male!
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