Did you know that Italian uses the same word — la storia — for both "story" and "history?" 

Sometimes it's clear what we're talking about: 

Ma ti rendi conto che questi galantuomini sono finiti sui libri di storia come gli eroi del Risorgimento, i grandi che hanno fatto l'Italia.

But do you realize that these men of honor have ended up in history books as the heroes of the Risorgimento, the greats who made Italy?

Captions 37-39, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP5 Rione Serra Venerdì - Part 19

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But more often than not, una storia means "a story," which can be interpreted in various ways, just as in English.

In ogni storia noir il poliziotto che si oppone al criminale ne è, in un certo senso, lo specchio. -Ginko è uno dei motivi di vita di Diabolik.

In every crime story, the policeman who opposes the criminal is, in a certain sense, the mirror of him. -Ginko is one of Diabolik's reasons for living.

Captions 31-32, Fumettology Diabolik - Part 5

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Often una storia represents a romantic relationship. We might say "love story" or "affair."

Hanno avuto una storia, ma si sono lasciati dopo pochi mesi.

(They had an affair, but they broke it off after a few months.)

When it's more of a fling, it's common to use the diminutive, storiella.

Me l'ha fatte pure con l'avvocato. Una storiella con un vigile urbano.

She did that to me with a lawyer, too. A fling with a traffic cop.

Captions 8-9, La Ladra EP. 3 - L'oro dello squalo - Part 12

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It's also common to use una relazione when referring to a relationship between two adults.

Gliel'ho già detto, la loro relazione era finita da un pezzo.

I already told you. Their relationship had been over for a good while.

Caption 106, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 11

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In the context of theater, television, and film, "story" isn't always called la storia. When we refer to the basic story, idea, theme, or plot outline, it's called il soggetto. In every-day Italian, however, il soggetto usually corresponds to its English cognate, "the subject." 

We often find the word soggetto in the credits of a movie or TV show.  An episode of Fumettology, about the comic book Diabolik, describes how the various aspects of preparing the material come together. The idea can come from a number of sources, but there is usually one writer who develops the story, theme, or plot outline, referred to as il soggetto. It might be the outline of a movie, episode, or entire series.

Spesso, una storia può avere una persona che fornisce lo spunto, poi, in genere, ce ne sono un paio d'altre che lo fanno diventare un soggetto.

Often, a story may have a person who provides the starting point, then, usually, there are a couple of others who make it become a storyline.

Captions 26-28, Fumettology Diabolik - Part 7

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Sono soggetti di, di, di anche di venti pagine. È praticamente già tutta la storia articolata, mancano giusto i dialoghi e la divisione in, in vignette,

They are storylines of, of, of even twenty pages. That's practically the whole story already laid out. Missing only are the dialogues and the division into, into vignettes,

Captions 29-31, Fumettology Diabolik - Part 7

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In the comics, il dialogo (the dialog) has to be created along with the narrative.

In a TV show or movie, there is la sceneggiatura (the script, the screenplay). In the following example, the same person came up with the story for the episode and then wrote the script or screenplay, which includes dialogue and stage directions. 

[Soggetto di puntata e sceneggiatura di]

[Episode story and screenplay by]

Caption 16, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone EP4 Gelo - Part 1

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You'll see the noun storia come up quite often in movies and TV shows, as well as in books and articles. Note that here, we've talked about the literal meanings of the word, but we'll look at other connotations in a future lesson, so stay tuned!

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