Have you ever enjoyed a cappuccino in Italy—or dreamed about it? Well, here's a surprise. There's a little segreto (secret) hiding inside the word cappuccino. It's one of the most useful little words in Italian. Once you notice it, you'll start seeing it in all kinds of Italian words. 

The little word is capo. But where to begin? Capo has quite a few meanings, so... let's begin at the beginning—because that happens to be one meaning of capo.

Non ha né capo né coda (it has neither a beginning nor an end/neither head nor tail).

Dai, facciamo ancora l'ultima serie, tutto da capo e poi abbiamo terminato.

Come on, let's do the last series again, everything from the beginning, and then we're done.

Captions 30-31, La compagnia del cigno EP 5 - Part 8

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This has morphed into one word people use in everyday conversation when it's time to start over (from square one). 

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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So how is capo hidden inside cappuccino? Above, I brought up this expression:

Non ha né capo né coda (it has neither a beginning nor an end/head nor tail).

We can talk about an animal with a head and tail. And to tell the truth, the first meaning of capo is "head." It comes from the Latin: caput.

➡️ Note: Nowadays, Italians usually say testa when they mean the part of the body. But capo survives in many expressions and compound words, which is why you'll see it everywhere once you start looking.

Un ragazzo, aveva la felpa e il cappuccio in testa.

A guy. He had a sweatshirt and a hood over his head.

Caption 58, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1 EP6 Buio - Part 4

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The word cappuccio makes sense because it covers the capo or head. Within the Franciscan religious movement founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209 (i Franciscani), there's an order, founded in 1529, that became known as i Cappuccini (the Capuchins in English) because of their long pointed hoods. Their habits were brown, just like the mix of coffee and milk in a cappuccino. According to the traditional explanation, this is how cappuccino, that magical mix of espresso and steamed milk, got its name.

In the following example, the waiter is asking what his customers would like. One customer asks the other if he wants a cappuccino, he gets a nod, then orders 2 of them. 

Cosa vi porto? -Le va un cappuccino? Allora, due cappuccini e un tè. -Grazie,

What shall I bring you? -Do you feel like a cappuccino? So, two cappuccinos and a tea. -Thank you,

Captions 52-54, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP3 La terza vittima - Part 12

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One important meaning of capo is "head," but in the figurative sense of leader, boss, or chief, depending on the context.  From there, it's easy to understand why capo also came to mean the person "at the head" of a group.  

Riunione dal capo.

Meeting with the chief.

Caption 26, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S2 EP1 Cuccioli - Part 13

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In proper English, we are not supposed to use double negatives. We can either say, "I am neither stupid nor ignorant," or "I'm not stupid or ignorant," but I can't say, "I'm not neither stupid nor ignorant."

We use double negatives in certain expressions or with poetic license, for example, in the famous song by Bill Withers, whose first line is:

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone."

Of course, "ain't" as an alternative to "isn't" and other negative conjugations of the verb "to be," is also not grammatically correct. But we use it sometimes for effect.  Another example of poetic license using a double negative is from the Rolling Stones song:

"I can't get no satisfaction."

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However, in Italian, double negatives aren't just OK, they are obligatory in many cases! When comparing two equivalent negative things, né is used and means both "neither" and "nor," which can make for some tricky choices in translating sometimes. So in this case, we have three negatives. Careful not to forget the accent here, as ne with no accent is a pronoun. 

Non mangio né carne né pesce (I eat neither meat nor fish). 

Note that né and né come after the verb, whereas non comes before the verb. 

È possibile che se faccio attività fisica io, poi non riesco a suonare né l'oboe né il pianoforte,

It is possible that if I do physical activity, then I'll be able to play neither the oboe nor the piano.

Captions 4-6, La compagnia del cigno EP 5 - Part 8

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Non gli arrivano né il rumore dei tifosi incollati alle recinzioni, né quello della pioggia.

Reaching him is neither the noise of the fans glued to the barriers, nor that of the rain.

Captions 31-32, Fulvio Benelli Crimine Infinito, romanzo - Part 1

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And here, né features in a common expression to use to express indifference. 

A ma', Dante mo' nun me [romanesco: ora non mi] fa né caldo né freddo.

Hey Mom, now, Dante leaves me indifferent (neither hot nor cold).

Caption 16, La Ladra EP. 9 - L'amico sconosciuto - Part 15

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If you listen for the word niente (nothing, none), you will likely hear non before the noun preceding it, as in this example. 

Ma non mi importa niente assolutamente,

But I absolutely don't care at all, [it doesn't matter to me at all]

Caption 33, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 7

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Another similar word, frequently referring to people, is nessuno (no one):

Non c'è nessuno che può aiutarci.

There is no one who can help us.

Caption 12, Caravaggio EP1 - Part 2

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After you apologize to someone, you might hear him or her say, Fa niente (it doesn't matter), but it's pretty much an accepted, shortened form of: Non fa niente (it doesn't matter).

Non fa niente, tranquilla.

It doesn't matter, don't worry.

Caption 33, La compagnia del cigno S1 EP4 - Part 12

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The main thing to keep in mind is that in Italian, a double negative intensifies a negative statement; it does not make it positive. 

Thanks for reading, and we hope you have learned something! Let us know if you want to delve further into this topic, with more examples. Write to us at [email protected]. 

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