{"id":70,"date":"2013-06-03T15:57:16","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T15:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guidadigenova.it\/en\/?post_type=es-curiosita&p=70"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:31:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T18:31:03","slug":"genoese-dialect-belin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guidadigenova.it\/en\/genoa-curiosity\/genoese-dialect-belin\/","title":{"rendered":"Genoese dialect: from “belin” to “bernarda”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Cat,<\/a>
Illustration by Gianmaria Rocchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The vocabulary of the Genoese dialect<\/strong> is the result of the mix of different populations<\/strong> such as Celts, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, who established their presence in the region in different periods. However, the main push towards change was caused by the typical vitality of our region\u2019s and Genoa\u2019s trade activities, which helped them become the economic hub of the Mediterranean during the age of the Doges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking for lexical curiosities<\/strong> in this multitude of words is a hard job, as popular wisdom is condensed in so many terms that an appropriate selection turns out to be a challenging task. Entire books such as Dolcino\u2019s “E parolle do gatto” (\u201cFilthy Words<\/strong>\u201d), or chapters such as parlar camallo<\/em> (\u201cspeaking the dialect of dockworkers\u201d), written by Orselli and Roffo in Genova segreta (\u201cSecret Genoa\u201d), analyse this topic in depth. I will extract only a few obscene words. In our folklore, they are the most explicit, famous and widely used terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAA for abbolicciou<\/em>, far from being a derogatory word for \u201chomosexual\u201d, indicates a type of \u201cweak\u201d attitude, distant from the idea of macho. The meaning of abbelinou<\/em> (\u201cgullible\u201d) is condensed in the expression ese ci\u00f9 abbelin\u00f2u che lungo<\/em> (\u201cbeing more gullible than tall\u201d, translator\u2019s note).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on, this term led to variations which are exposed by Fochessato\u2019s concise – as well as incisive – words. Let us quote the full text: \u201cabbelin\u00f2u saieiva mi che son vegio se scappesse co \u2018na bella figgia de vint\u2019anni. O belinon (\u201cgullible\u201d) l\u2019\u00e8 un comme Enrico Toti ch\u2019o l\u2019ea senza una gamba o l\u2019\u00e8 aneto in guaera, o gh\u2019a tiou a stampella e o s\u2019\u00e8 faeto ammass\u00e0. A belinn-a o l\u2019\u00e8 un belinon ma cattio.<\/em>\u201d (I, an old man, would be abbelin\u00f2u<\/em>, if I ran away with a beautiful 20-year-old woman. Belinon<\/em> is one like Enrico Toti. He only had one leg, went to war, threw his crutch at the enemy and got killed. Belina<\/em> is a nasty belinon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these words stem from the famous \u201cbelin\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (male reproductive organ) which cannot be left out of the list. It can be used with different nuances, expressing surprise, dejection, mockery. Its \u201cfemale equivalent\u201d is the term bernarda<\/strong><\/em>, an ancient barrel with a very wide hole where glasses could be inserted. The type of analogy generating the double entendre should be quite evident …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to male traits, words like cuggiun<\/em> (obscene word for \u201ctesticle\u201d), cuggia<\/em> (\u201clie\u201d, literally \u201cbollocks\u201d) and cuggion\u00e0<\/em> (mockery) are not looked down on if used in the right context. Going on with that region of the body we should also mention the ciappa<\/em> (\u201csheet of stone\u201d) and the graphic expression vanni a d\u00e0 do cu in ciappa<\/em> (literally \u201chit your arse against a sheet of stone\u201d). It referred to a punishment according to which debtors were forced to hit their buttocks against a rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galuscio<\/em> (excrement), used as an insult, is quite outdated and vulgar. The word merdaieu<\/em>, (coming from merda<\/em>, \u201cdung\u201d, translator\u2019s note), designating the barge carrying garbage out of the port, sounds much better. As the famous Genoese singer Fabrizio De Andr\u00e8<\/a> sang, flowers grow out of dung, for the relief of those who receive it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Adriana Morando<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Daniele Canepa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Belin” is the most famous word of Genoese dialect, used with different nuances<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genoa-curiosity"],"yoast_head":"\nGenoese dialect - Curiosity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The most popular word in Genoese dialect is "belin", used with different nuances, surprise, dejection... 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