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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There are certain moments in life, and January is often one of them, when we reassess things, we try something new, or we turn over a new leaf. Did you ever wonder if there is an equivalent expression in Italian for turning over a new leaf? There is! It's voltare pagina (to turn the page). It's not exact, but it's close. Turning over a new leaf looks to the future with the adjective "new," and it implies getting a fresh start, whereas voltare pagina might imply leaving the past in the past. It can mean "to move on." It all depends on the context. Turning over a new leaf is usually applicable to one individual, whereas voltare pagina can be general or specific. 

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When you turn over a new leaf, it's like turning the page. Back in the day, at school, we would use loose-leaf notebooks, also called "ring binders." In Italian, these are called either raccoglitori ad anelli or quaderni ad anelli. So "leaf" is another word for "page" (or more precisely, "sheet of paper or parchment"), even though when we hear, say, or read the word "leaf," we usually think of a tree or plant with leaves. In Italian, a leaf is una foglia.

Fun fact: 2 Italian nouns, la foglia (the botanical leaf) and il foglio (page, leaf, sheet of paper including back and front) come from the same Latin word "folium," meaning "leaf" or "sheet of paper."

Il mese di gennaio è un buon momento per voltare pagina.

(The month of January is a good opportunity for turning over a new leaf.)

Il passato non torna, Albe'. Dobbiamo voltare pagina.

The past doesn't come back, Albe'. We have to turn the page.

Captions 4-5, Non è mai troppo tardi EP1 - Part 5

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Sì, lo so che non me ne dovrebbe fregare più niente, che... che dovrei andare avanti, ma, ma... non ci riesco.

Yes, I know I shouldn't give a damn anymore, that... that I should move on, but, but... I can't.

Captions 8-9, Sposami EP 3 - Part 20

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In the previous example, the speaker could have said:

Sì, lo so che non me ne dovrebbe fregare più niente, che... che dovrei voltare pagina, ma, ma... non ci riesco.

Yes, I know I shouldn't give a damn anymore, that... that I should move on, but, but... I can't.

For more about the verb voltare (to turn) and its origins, and about other related words and topics, see this lesson, especially the section titled: 
"When manuscripts had leaves, not pages."

Here are two examples contrasting foglia and foglio.

Allora qua abbiamo un pittore, come vedete, che disegna foglie secche e frutta marcia.

So here we have a painter, as you see, who designs dry leaves and rotten fruit.

Captions 40-41, Caravaggio EP1 - Part 6

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Se vuoi fare contento un bambino, dagli un foglio bianco e una matita colorata.

If you want to make a child happy, give him a white sheet of paper and a colored pencil.

Captions 7-8, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 1

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Have a little fun with words that have different meanings depending on whether they end in a or o. 

Thanks for reading! You can write to us at [email protected].

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It can be hard to remember whether an Italian noun ends in o or a. Sometimes it doesn't really matter, and people from different regions will express the noun one way or the other. An example of this is il puzzo/la puzza. They both mean "a bad smell" "a stench."

Beh, è bello sentire gli odori, ma noi sentiamo gli odori, ma sentiamo anche le puzze. Ecco infatti, senti questa puzza?

Well, it's nice to smell odors, but we smell scents, but we also smell bad odors. There you go, in fact, do you smell this stench?

Captions 12-14, Daniela e Francesca Il verbo sentire

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They're both associated with the verb puzzare (to stink).

But often, the ending does make a difference in meaning: It might be a small difference, where you'll likely be understood even if you get it wrong:

Se vuoi fare contento un bambino, dagli un foglio bianco e una matita colorata.

If you want to make a child happy, give him a white sheet of paper and a colored pencil.

Captions 7-8, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 1

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una spolverata de [di] parmigiano e 'na [una] foglia di basilico a crudo sopra.

a sprinkling of Parmesan and a raw basil leaf on top.

Caption 9, Anna e Marika Un Ristorante a Trastevere

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Both sheets of paper are flat and thin, and in English a leaf can be a sheet of paper. We might use this term when talking specifically about books, but normally a leaf is a leaf and a sheet of paper is a sheet of paper.

Of course it's better to get it right! 

But what about palo and pala? Actually, if we think about it, they both have similar shapes, but their function is completely different.

Il problema era, era un palo, un palo che stava proprio lì. Un palo di ferro

The problem was, was a post, a post that was right there. An iron post

Captions 83-85, Provaci Ancora Prof! S2EP1 - La finestra sulla scuola - Part 1

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La preparazione del terreno per la semina, il contadino la fa con una vanga, che è una specie di pala ma fatta apposta per il terreno,

The preparing of the ground for sowing, the farmer does with a spade, which is a kind of shovel but made especially for the ground,

Captions 19-20, La campagna toscana Il contadino - Part 2

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So just for fun, and perhaps to help remember, we have a little crossword puzzle for you, all in Italian. All the words have one version that ends in a and one that ends in o. You might have to use a dictionary.

Click on the link and follow the instructions.

When endings count: Italian nouns ending in a or o

We've had a request for translations of the crossword puzzle.  While we can't put the translation in the crossword itself, here are the clues in English:

Across

4. where ships can be docked
7. I use it for sewing
8. You have one when you are sad
10. I use it to write or draw on when it is made of paper
11. it grows in the ground or in a pot
12. one uses it to build things
13. we burn it in the fireplace
14. one a day keeps the doctor away
15. where someone lives

Down

1. a letter or package
2. place
3. It can end up in the courtroom
5. a type of fruit tree
6. it supports the electrical or telephone lines
7. there's often one at the checkout counter
8. you close it when you leave the house
9. you use it to dig a hole
10. it falls from a tree in the fall

Here are the solutions: