La Scoperta del Giorno (Today's Discovery): Stair Repairs

 La Scoperta del Giorno (Today's Discovery): Stair Repairs

The latest in the now-and-then RST series, La Scoperta del Giorno (the discovery of the day or, better put in English, Today’s Discovery). The Italian word “scoperta,” and its English equivalent, “discovery,” are similarly constructed; each is based on the verb “to cover” (coprire/to cover) and each is converted into “uncover” or“discover” with a prefix (the “s” in Italian, the “dis” in English).

Now and then repairs have been made to the stone stairways on Rome's Metro "A" line. The repairs below were found on a stairway in Piazza della Repubblica. 

We were intrigued by shape of the repairs In thinking about it, it seems likely that the shape was designed to strengthen the repair, to make it less likely that the repaired section would fall out or come loose. And that's La Scoperta del Giorno.

Bill 

Whatever! How to Render that Mild Rebuke. In Italian.

 

Yes, it's just a pizzeria in Tivoli, but it has a special meaning for us because of a discussion we had with Roman friends a few days before our trip to the famous hill town. 

We had asked our friends how one might render in Italian the American argument-ending, dismissive putdown "whatever." They thought for a while, and then it was clear: "Come ti pare—a te!" That's how it seems to you, with that emphatic "a te"—to YOU—to drive the point home. 

Of course the name of the pizzeria reminded us of the conversation: "Fa' 'un po' come te pare," a Roman turn on "Fai un po' come ti pare." Meaning, for the pizzeria, "do whatever you like with your pizza"—put whatever you like on it. It seems that in a Roman dialect, it's "te" pare, not "ti" pare. 

Whatever!

Bill 

p.s. The contemporary use of "whatever" as a dismissive word, conveying indifference, apparently dates to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the term became popular among passive-aggressive youth. It was perhaps first used in a 1965 episode of the TV show "Bewitched." That's if you believe AI, which reports the following exchange in the "Bewitched" episode:

Endora: "Good morning, Derwood."

Samantha: "Darrin"

Endora: "Whatever"