You might have heard Italians saying, "D'accordo" to mean "OK," or "all right," in your travels, in movies and TV shows, or elsewhere. Depending on the context and inflection, it can be posed as a question:

D'accordo?

All right?

Caption 29, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 8

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 Or it can be a statement of agreement. 

D'accordo.

All right.

Caption 73, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP2 Rabbia - Part 20

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There are various ways to use d'accordo and its main noun, accordo (agreement). We've mentioned some of them in this lesson. 

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But there is also a verb form, accordare. One common use of this verb is in music. It means "to tune," such as the strings of a musical instrument. 

Ah, perfetto. -Accordare la chitarra. -Sì.

Ah, perfect. -To tune a guitar. -Yes.

Caption 67, L'Eredità -Quiz TV La sfida dei sei. Puntata 2 - Part 10

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You might have heard Daniela use accordare when talking about "agreement" between various parts of speech. 

Chiaramente, se il soggetto è plurale il verbo va accordato anche alla terza persona plurale.

Clearly, if the subject is plural the verb has to agree in the third person plural, as well.

Captions 3-4, Corso di italiano con Daniela La forma passiva - Part 3

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It's very common to use mettersi d'accordo to come to an agreement or essere d'accordo to agree or to be in agreement:

Dai, ti sei messa d'accordo con Polio e Faber per farmi uno scherzo

Come on, you ganged up with Polio and Faber to play a joke on me,

Caption 15, Com'è umano lui Film - Part 10

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Sono d'accordo con te.

I agree with you.

Caption 9, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP5 Misericordia - Part 25

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But it's also possible to use the reflexive verb accordarsi.

Gli sposi devono accordarsi su un piccolo particolare della formula, nessun problema.

The bride and groom have to come to an agreement about a little detail for their vows, no problem.

Caption 19, Sposami EP 5 - Part 21

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Finally, accordare can also mean "to grant." In this case, it's transitive.

Ma, veramente, commissario, ha preso un giorno di permesso. Ma gliel'ha accordato Lei, prima di partire.

But actually, Commissioner, she took a personal day. But you granted it to her, before leaving.

Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena - Part 2

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Permesso accordato.

Permission granted.

Caption 106, Provaci ancora prof! S3 EP2 Doppio imprevisto - Part 20

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Thanks for reading. Send your questions and comments to [email protected] or use the comments section of the video you happen to be watching. 

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Metaphors might be fun and easy when they are in one's own language, but they may not be so easy to identify and understand in the language you're learning. We've selected some expressions using the metaphor of aria (air) for your enjoyment and learning. 

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Aria fritta

Obviously, you can't fry air, so it's a great way to say something is not worth selling, not worth taking into consideration. 

Qui si vende aria fritta.

Here we're selling fried air [thin air].

Caption 31, Sposami EP 4 - Part 23

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Mandare all'aria

 There are lots of ways to let things go up in smoke, and here is one:

Adesso tu vuoi mandare all'aria tutto così, per niente?

Now you want to make everything go up in smoke, just like that, for nothing?

Caption 4, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 3 S3EP4 Lo stagno del ranocchio - Part 12

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Of course, Italians do also use the metaphor of fumo (smoke) but we'll look at those in another lesson.  

Campato in aria

For this metaphor, it might be useful to talk about the verb campare. For English speakers, the word "camp" comes to mind. Campare may come from the French verb "camper" meaning accamparsi (to encamp, to set up camp). In modern colloquial Italian, it has come to mean "to get by" and by extension, "to live" or to "survive." Campato in aria means something is nonsensical, far-fetched. Just as you can't fry air, you can't survive on it alone.

Questa è tutta una sua ricostruzione totalmente campata in aria.

This is all her totally far-fetched reconstruction.

Caption 9, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP2 Come piante fra sassi - Part 5

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Here below, we have a different translation that keeps with the metaphor of "air." The meaning here is still "unfounded."

Sono tutte supposizioni, campate in aria.

These are all suppositions, drawn out of thin air.

Caption 8, Il Commissario Manara S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola - Part 12

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Andare a gambe all'aria

If we visualize legs in the air, we can relate to the English equivalent: to go belly up. 

Un matrimonio che va a gambe all'aria al momento della cerimonia, per colpa di chi?

A wedding that ends up with legs in the air [goes belly up] at the moment of the ceremony, by the fault of whom?

Captions 45-46, Sposami EP 5 - Part 21

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Cambiare aria 

To change the air means to change the environment — in other words, to get a change of scene. 

Il tempo di mettere da parte abbastanza soldi per cambiare aria e ricominciare daccapo.

The time it took to put aside enough money, to get a change of scene, and start over from the beginning.

Captions 22-23, Il Commissario Manara S2EP4 - Miss Maremma - Part 6

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 Avere la testa per aria

This expression has two versions, but the meaning is the same. 

"Avere la testa tra le nuvole" o "avere la testa per aria" si usa quando non si riesce a pensare in maniera logica o chiara.

"To have one's head in the clouds" or "to have one's head in the air" is used when you are unable to think logically or clearly.

Captions 23-24, Marika spiega Espressioni con la testa - Part 2

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Have you seen other examples with aria as a metaphor in Yabla videos, or elsewhere? Let us know, and we'll add them to this lesson. 

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